This regular alert covers key regulatory EU developments related to the COVID-19 situation. It does not purport to provide an exhaustive overview of developments and contains no analysis or opinion.

LATEST KEY DEVELOPMENTS

Competition & State Aid

  • European Commission publishes State aid Scoreboard 2021
  • European Commission posts timeline for State aid policy reviews 2020-2024
  • European Commission adopts first amendment of Ukraine Temporary Crisis Framework
  • European Commission approves further schemes under Ukraine Temporary Crisis Framework
  • European Commission announces phase out of COVID Temporary Crisis Framework, with certain exceptions
  • European Commission approves further schemes under COVID Temporary Crisis Framework

Trade / Export Controls

  • European Commission publishes Second Annual Report on screening of foreign direct investments
  • 9th EU-China High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue

Medicines and Medical Devices

  • EMA and ECDC issue Joint Statement on booster vaccination with Omicron adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccines
  • European Commission publishes 2022-2026 workplan of ACT EU initiative
  • EMA adopts measures concerning medicines shortages in the EU
  • Provisional agreement reached on Regulation on serious cross-border threats to health
  • European Commission and the US Department of Health and Human Services sign cooperation arrangement on preparedness and response to public health threats

Cybersecurity, Privacy & Data Protection

  • Provisional agreement reached on 2030 Policy Programme: Path to the Digital Decade
  • EDPB and EDPS publish Joint Opinion on Proposal for a Regulation on the European Health Data Space
  • European Commission adopts equivalence decisions for EU Digital COVID certificates of Bahrain, Ecuador, the Republic of Korea, Kosovo, and Madagascar
  • European Parliament and Council of the European Union adopt extension of the EU Digital COVID Certificate

COMPETITION & STATE AID

State Aid

European Commission publishes State aid Scoreboard 2021 (see here)

On 8 September 2022, the Commission published the State aid Scoreboard 2021.

The Scoreboard, in particular, explains State aid expenditure in 2020 by the 27 EU Member States and the UK*, which together spent €384.33 billion in State aid for all objectives (or some 2.43% of their combined 2020 GDP), excluding aid to railways and Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI).

Total expenditure for COVID-19 measures in 2020 amounted to €227.97 billion (approx. 59% of total State aid spending). In this respect, notably:

  • The majority of Member States provided most of their COVID-19 crisis support via non-repayable instruments. Direct grants accounted for over 50% of support in Bulgaria, Ireland, Malta, Slovenia, Czechia, Hungary, Cyprus, Austria, Slovakia, Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
  • Tax advantage measures represented a much lower share of total COVID-19 support.

Total non-COVID related public support measures in 2020 amounted to €156.36 billion (approx. 41% of total spending), and in this respect:

  • State aid expenditure remained within pre-pandemic ranges, increasing by €9.12 billion compared to 2019 (average annual increase from 2015 – 2019 was €9.80 billion per year).
  • Also in line with previous years, Member States spent by far the most on environmental protection and energy savings (€77 billion, with Germany and Denmark spending the most), followed by regional development (€18.30 billion) and research and development, including innovation (€16.40 billion).

According to the Scoreboard, State aid measures actually implemented by Member States have largely correlated to the economic damage suffered during the COVID crisis. The Scoreboard also indicated it found no evidence of Member States granting an excessively larger amount compared to the others.

State aid expenditure data gathered by DG Competition is available on its data repository webpage hosted by EUROSTAT (see here).

* Until 31 January 2020 and the entry into force of the withdrawal agreement, the UK was an EU Member State and therefore included in the scope of the State aid Scoreboard. Aggregate statistics are disclosed at the EU27 level, plus the UK.

European Commission publishes timeline for State aid policy reviews 2020-2024 (see here)

In August 2022, the Commission published a timeline for State aid policy reviews 2020-2024. Amongst other developments, the timeline denotes:

  • The adoption of the Ukraine Temporary Crisis Framework in Q1 2022 (see further details below);
  • The phasing out of the State aid COVID Temporary Framework on 30 June 2022 (see further details below).
  • The anticipated adoption of the Regulation on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market in Q4 2022; and
  • The anticipated adoption of Regulation on Exemptions for small amounts of aid (de minimis aid) in Q2 2022.

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