Member States continued focus on EU key priorities amid reduced spending in 2024, State aid Scoreboard shows

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

EU Member States spent 90% of their State aid in 2024 to support EU priorities, according to the European Commission’s 2025 State aid Scoreboard, published today. While overall spending dropped to €168.23 billion in 2024 from €203.35 billion in 2023, Member States channeled more funds towards supporting key EU prorities, such as environmental protection, energy, research, development and innovation and regional development. At the same time, crisis aid measures related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to the COVID-19 pandemic continued to phase out.

The State aid Scoreboard, based on Member States’ reports, shows that in 2024:

• Environmental protection and energy savings remains the main focus among key State aid objectives, accounting for €68.82 billion or 45% of total State aid for EU priorities.
• In a strategic shift towards sustainability, Member States increased focus on energy aid. Out of the total aid spent for environmental protection and energy savings, State aid for decarbonisation efforts totalled €30.45 billion. Aid for energy production and infrastructure modernisation reached €27.31 billion in 2024.
• In addition, Member States channelled €3.84 billion to support the shift from crisis-related emergency measures toward sustainable investments to accelerate the transition to a net-zero emission economy under the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (‘TCTF’), focusing on renewable energy rollout, industrial decarbonization, and strategic sector investments. Two new semiconductor manufacturing facilities projects received State aid, with €223.87 million paid out in 2023 and €352.85 million in 2024.
• In 2024, State aid for research, development and innovation totalled €14.16 billion, while Member States granted €13.42 billion in aid for regional development. The expenditure for important projects of common European interest (IPCEIs) was €2.62 billion in 2024.
• State aid also contributed €4.59 billion to the rollout of broadband, which supports EU digital growth.
• Aid to agriculture, forestry, and rural areas amounted to €10.43 billion, while fisheries and aquaculture received €212.87 million in 2024.
• Measures under the General Block Exemption Regulation (‘GBER’) comprised 69% of all active State aid measures, reflecting a continued preference for block exemptions. Combined with the Agricultural Block Exemption Regulation (‘ABER’) and the Fishery Block Exemption Regulation (‘FIBER’), these measures together accounted for 87% of all active State aid measures and 93% of new measures. Due to their focus on smaller aid measures, these represented only 36% of the total expenditure.

Two new semiconductor manufacturing facilities projects received State aid, with €223.87 million paid out in 2023 and €352.85 million in 2024.

State aid also contributed €4.59 billion to the rollout of broadband, which supports EU digital growth.

• Total crisis aid expenditure decreased significantly to €16.33 billion, a reduction of 67% compared to the previous year, with aid focused predominantly on addressing impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Background

Under Article 6 of Commission Regulation (EC) 794/2004, the European Commission must publish, annually, a State aid synopsis based on the expenditure reports provided by Member States. The Scoreboard is the Commission’s benchmarking instrument for State aid. It was launched by the Commission in July 2001 to provide a transparent and publicly accessible source of information on the overall State aid situation in the Member States and on the Commission’s State aid control activities.

For More Information

State aid expenditure data gathered by the Commission is also available on the data repository webpage on the competition website. More information on the State aid Scoreboard, including earlier Scoreboards, can be found here.