ARTICLEToday
IPCEI - not as equal as claimed
Important Projects of Common European Interest play a prominent role in industrial policy in Europe. The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise have conducted an analysis that shows there are big differences in how different countries use the tool.
- Germany clearly spends the most, followed by Italy and France, while some countries are not involved at all. Germany has granted more IPCEI state aid than all other EU countries combined if you exclude Italy and France. In terms of the number of participating companies, Germany also leads, followed by Italy and France.
- IPCEI state aid goes mainly to large companies, which should have a better ability to find financing on their own. 80 percent of the recipient companies are large enterprises, and only 20 percent are SMEs.
- The time it takes to review an IPCEI has not decreased over time, remaining at 1–2 years. Given the number of companies participating and the high complexity of the cases, the prospects for shorter review times are limited.
- IPCEI is thus as distorting to competition in terms of distribution between Member States as other aids in general. The aid is particularly distorting since larger aid levels can be used, and aid can be given up to the phase before mass production. IPCEI should therefore be used to a limited extent and for specific reasons, especially given that evaluations are still missing.
- If joint EU funding would be added on top of the existing Member State funding, there is a risk of further distortion of competition.
- We believe that research and development rather should be stimulated through broad measures that reduce the costs of conducting such activities. If state aid is to be used, aid under the general block exemption should primarily be considered.