EC INVITES COMMENTS ON DRAFT REVISED STATE AID RULES FOR LAND AND MULTIMODAL TRANSPORT
The European Commission has launched a public consultation inviting all interested parties to comment on its draft rules for land and multimodal transport replacing the Guidelines on State aid for railway undertakings (‘Railway Guidelines') as well as on its new Transport Block-Exemption Regulation (‘TBER').
In a press release issued on the 18th June the EC explains that the rules laid down in the TBER will be complementary to those set out in the new Land and Multimodal Transport Guidelines (‘LMT Guidelines') which will replace the Railway Guidelines. In the LMT Guidelines, the Commission sets out the conditions under which it will assesses notified public support to sustainable land transport that is not block-exempted. Together, these two sets of rules will form an up-to date and comprehensive rulebook for the granting of State aid in the sustainable land transport sector.
The Railway Guidelines set out the conditions under which aid to railway companies may be considered compatible with the internal market and State aid rules on the basis of Article 93 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU'). The proposed changes aim to broaden the scope of the Guidelines to cover all land transport modes that are less polluting than road-only transport, such as rail, inland waterway transport, and sustainable multimodal transport. Therefore, replacing the current Railway Guidelines by the LMT Guidelines.
The changes also seek to consolidate and streamline the Commission's case practice under the Railway Guidelines and Article 93 TFEU. This would include for example introducing new categories of operating and investment aid, such as aid for the construction of multimodal facilities, aid to launch new commercial connections, and aid that represents reimbursement for the discharge of public service obligations in the rail freight sector. They also provide for more flexible rules for aid that directly contributes to the green and digital transitions, including aid to reduce external costs of transport and to promote interoperability (e.g. easier and safer operation across national rail systems) to boost modal shift from road to more sustainable modes of transport; Introduce safeguards to support the entry and growth of new operators in the sustainable land transport market, for example by easing their access to finance to purchase rolling stock and inland waterway vessels.
Interested parties can respond to the
public consultation until 20 September 2024.