Non-paper - Non-Starter or Non-Negotiable? EU Competition Policy and Regional Aid Control Post 2013

The process of reforming the Regional aid guidelines for the post 2013 period had been underway for some time. As far back as autumn 2010 DG Competition began sounding out Member States regarding their views on the operation of the guidelines. This yielded rather little in the way of feedback and was followed up with a workshop in March 2011 which considered virtually all aspects of the guidelines. Member States were encouraged to share domestic experiences, especially in the field of evaluation and incentive effect, and to comment on the detailed functioning of the rules and how they could be improved. Most Member States responded over the course of 2011 and, towards the year end, DG Competition outlined its thinking in a so-called Non-paper intended as the basis for discussion at a first multilateral meeting held in February 2012.