development report 2012 - UMAR

166 Development Report 2012
Indicators of Slovenia’s development
State aid 1
After the significant increase in 2009 owing to
measures to mitigate the impact of the economic
crisis, state aid declined markedly in 2010 but
remained higher than in the period before 2009.
In 2010 state aid amounted to EUR 460.1 m, which is
1.28% of GDP and 2.8% of total general government
expenditure. After expanding by as much as 86.5% in
2009 (by EUR 280.6 m or by over 0.84% of GDP), state
aid shrank by 23.9% or EUR 144.6 m in 2010 (0.43% of
GDP). Regardless of this substantial decline, in 2010
state aid was still higher than that in 2008 (by 0.48%
of GDP or EUR 136 m) or in any other years since
Slovenia’s accession to the EU 2 (Thirteenth Survey on
State Aid in Slovenia, 2012).
The decline of state aid in 2010 arose from the
phasing-out of the special temporary scheme called
‘aid to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy’.
Only EUR 37.6 m in state aid was thus allocated under
this scheme in 2010 (in contrast to as much as EUR
215.4 m in 2009), with aid for financial institutions
being cut substantially. Other forms of horizontal
aid used by Slovenia to deal with the effects of the
economic crisis rose by EUR 42.1 m in 2010 and
were much higher (by EUR 104.6 m) than in 2008.
The largest increase was recorded for aid for R&D,
which was as much as three and a half times higher
than in 2008 and 45% higher than in 2009. Aids for
employment and environmental protection soared
as well. Certain categories of horizontal aid (aids for
small and medium-sized enterprises and training)
are dropping gradually on account of an increase
in measures allocated under the ‘de minimis’ rule,
which are not considered state aid. Aids for regional
development and culture are also being reduced, in
both absolute and relative terms. In 2010, aid was
(for the first time) allocated under a new scheme
referred to as the risk-capital measure, but its amount
was small. Also without the aid intended to remedy
a serious disturbance in the economy, the increase
of horizontal aids as a share of total state aid (2008:
47.6%; 2010: 64.4%) pursues the development goals
defined in Slovenia’s Development Strategy and the
Europe 2020 strategy, as well as the goal of increasing
the general impact of state aid on the development of
individual recipients and, through the spillover effects,
on the society as a whole. The amounts of state aid
dedicated for special sectors declined somewhat in
2010 relative to 2009; state aid for transport increased
while aids for other sectors (in particular agriculture
and fisheries and coal mining) declined.
State aid (excluding crisis aid and aid for rail
transport 3 ) is much higher than the EU average.
According to EC data (State Aid Scoreboard, 2011),
the average state aid in the EU is nearly one half lower
than that in Slovenia (EU: 0.6%; Slovenia: 1.1% of
GDP). Only Hungary (2.3%) and Malta (1.4% of GDP)
recorded higher aid in relative terms, while Finland
was on par with Slovenia. However, the amount of
aid earmarked for the financial sector to mitigate the
impact of the financial crisis in the 2008–2010 period
was well below the EU average (Slovenia: 6.0%; EU:
13.1% of 2010 GDP).(Commission staff working paper,
Autumn 2010 update, 2011).
State aid in gradually being shifted into aids
granted under the ‘de minimis’ 4 rule, which are not
considered state aid and are therefore not controlled
by the EU. The aids under this rule, having totalled
around EUR 10 m in Slovenia in 2006, expanded to a
high of EUR 28.6 m in 2008. In 2009 they surged to
EUR 84.9 m and accounted for as much as 14% of
total state aid. This remarkable increase was partly
a consequence of measures adopted in response to
the economic crisis, as well as, to a certain extent, the
above-mentioned shift from the controlled state aids.
In 2010, these aids shrank by 28.5%, but remained
high (EUR 60.7 m), accounting for 13.2% of total
state aid. They were granted for various purposes,
particularly for employment, and small and mediumsized
enterprises.
1
State aids arise from the EU's regime and represent all
measures of a state in terms of its expenditures (subsidies,
capital transfers) and revenues (reduced state revenues)
allocated by various instruments (grants, tax exemptions and
reliefs, favourable loans, guarantees, etc.) to economic entities
that have an impact on the single market of the EU. The impact
of the market is defined arbitrarily, by rules adopted by the
European Commission, the European Council and the European
Court of Justice.
2
A comparison with the pre-accession years, when the total
state aid had been taken into account, is not realistic, as since
Slovenia's accession to the EU a significant portion of state aid
to agriculture, i.e. measures under the Common Agricultural
Policy (CAP), is no longer considered state aid.
3
In its latest survey the European Commission published
only data on state aids without crisis aid and the aid for rail
transport.
4
The "de minimis" rule (aids of small amount) is an instrument
which allows Member States to grant subsidies of limited
amount very rapidly, without notification to the Commission and
entering into any administrative procedure. The rule is based on
the assumption that, in the vast majority of cases, subsidies of
a small amount do not have an effect on trade and competition
between Member States and therefore do not constitute state
aid pursuant to Article 87(1) EC. The ceiling for the aid covered
by the "de minimis" rule is EUR 200,000 per recipient over any
three fiscal years.