EU to review rules on foreign subsidies
The European Commission is seeking feedback from interested parties as part of a review of rules on foreign subsidies that were introduced in 2023.
The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) was brought in to address what the EU described as “a regulatory gap”, whereby subsidies granted by EU member states are closely scrutinised under state-aid rules – but those granted by non-EU governments go unchecked.
The EU body is holding a public consultation, which will gather views from companies, law firms, member states, and individuals on how the regulation is being implemented and enforced.
The commission has also launched a call for evidence seeking more general feedback from all interested parties on the main aims, scope, and context of the FSR review report.
‘Unbureaucractic’
The review is to focus on:
- The assessment of foreign subsidies that distort the internal market,
- The application of the balancing test (whether positive effects of the foreign subsidy counterbalance its distortive effects),
- The review of foreign subsidies with a possible distortive effect in the internal market on the commission's own initiative,
- The notification thresholds, and
- The level of complexity of the rules and the costs incurred by businesses.
Parties can submit their views on the commission's portal until 18 November.
Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné said that, as public procurement accounted for roughly 15% of the EU's gross national product, Europeans expected the selection process to be fair and not distorted by subsidies coming from third countries.
“However, monitoring of this objective should be as unbureaucratic and transparent as possible,” he added.