EU flags in front of the EU commission

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Yesterday evening, the European Commission approved the outstanding part of the extraordinary economic assistance (November/December Assistance Extra). This means that the eligibility criteria have been set in particular for companies wishing to claim amounts of more than €4 million under the extraordinary economic assistance scheme.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier made the following statement yesterday evening (21 January) immediately after the European Commission announced its decision: “I expressly welcome the European Commission's decision. It means that extraordinary economic assistance of more than €4 million can be granted under State aid law. This sends an important signal for businesses and employees, and is urgently needed to preserve the substance of our economy.”

Eligibility criteria at a glance:
The basis under State aid law for the scheme approved today is a provision under European law on compensation for damage (Article 107(2)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)). The European Commission interprets this provision very restrictively, meaning economic assistance may only be granted for damage directly caused by lockdown measures imposed by the state. It is therefore all the more pleasing that, after intensive negotiations with the Commission, an agreement has now been reached and the Commission has also granted clearance under State aid law for subsidies of more than €4 million per company. Until now, companies have had to submit an individual notification for subsidies of more than €4 million per company. After yesterday's State aid decision, this very time-consuming procedure is no longer necessary for companies receiving state benefits of more than €4 million. This is a great relief for the companies affected.

However, under European State aid law, aid may only be granted if the companies have provided individual proof of damage. As part of the process of determining the final level of assistance offered, careful examination is also required once the assistance has been provisionally granted in order to ensure that no overfunding takes place.

The submission of applications for November/December Assistance Extra – which, like the November and December Assistance Programme, provides for companies to be awarded up to 75% of the turnover compared to the same period in the previous year – is expected to be possible in February via the nationwide standardised IT platform for Bridging Assistance (www.ueberbrueckungshilfe-unternehmen.de) (in German). Applications can be submitted via tax consultants, auditors or other third parties.

Further information will be available shortly at www.bmwi.de (in German) and www.ueberbrueckungshilfe-unternehmen.de (in German).

Yesterday’s State aid decision by the European Commission can be found here.

In addition, the Federal Government is working with the European Commission to ensure that the maximum amounts that apply for small amounts of compatible aid and aid for fixed costs under the Temporary Framework are significantly increased.