EU accepts up to 30% state aid for investments in south of Belgium

The European Commission approved this Monday, 18 July, Belgium's map for granting state aid from 2022 to 2027 within the framework of the revised Regional Aid Guidelines ('RAG'). Belgium's regional map defines which regions are eligible for regional investment aid. 

The revised RAG enables Member States to support the least favoured European regions in catching up and to reduce disparities in terms of economic well-being, income and unemployment – cohesion objectives that are at the heart of the Union. Under the revised RAG, regions covering 25.83% of the population of Belgium will be eligible for regional investment aid.

The region of the Luxembourg Province is among the most disadvantaged regions in the EU, with a GDP per capita below 75% of EU average. It is eligible with a maximum aid intensity for large enterprises of 30%.

In order to address regional disparities, Belgium also has designated parts of Brussels Capital Region, of the Limburg Province (BE), of the Oost-VlaanderenProvince, of the West-VlaanderenProvince, of the Brabant Wallon Province, of the Hainaut Province, of the Liège Province and of the Namur Province. In these areas, the maximum aid intensities for large enterprises vary between 10% and 15%, depending on their GDP per capita and unemployment rate.

In all the above areas, the maximum aid intensities can be increased by 10 percentage (for medium enterprises) or 20 percentage (for small enterprises), for their initial investments with eligible costs up to €50 million.

The revised RAG also maintains safeguards to prevent Member States from using public money to trigger the relocation of jobs from one EU Member State to another, which is essential for fair competition in the Single Market.

(VIV)

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