Commission invites comments on draft new State aid General Block Exemption Regulation

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

The European Commission has today launched a public consultation on the draft of a simpler and more streamlined General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). The new version will align the GBER with current social, market and technological conditions. The Commission invites Member States and all other interested parties to comment on the draft by 23 April 2026.

The GBER defines specific categories of State aid as compatible with EU rules, if they fulfil certain conditions, and exempts them from prior notification to and approval by the Commission. This allows Member States to quickly provide aid if conditions limiting the distortion of competition in the Single Market are met.

The new GBER will involve less administrative burden and will be easier to interpret and apply. It will be adapted to recent social, market and technology developments and will allow greater flexibility in the design of aid measures.

After 12 years of application, and several amendments, the block exemption rules will benefit from clarifications and simplification. The Commission will propose a new GBER before the current one expires at the end of 2026, to accelerate the granting of necessary and proportionate aid. The explanatory memorandum accompanying the draft of the new GBER describes the most significant changes to illustrate the scope of this comprehensive revision.

The main proposed changes

Today’s proposal is the most comprehensive update to the GBER since it came into force, covering a range of areas. The main changes include the following:

• New straightforward conditions for small amounts of aid for specific projects or activities, such as for R&D or environmental protection, regardless of the size of the company. This means simpler access to State aid, in particular for small mid-caps or social enterprises.
• Addressing the needs of SMEs more effectively, for example with more flexible risk-finance instruments or aid in the form of favourable tax treatment of share options and warrants for employees, and with inserting more accessible SME aid for social enterprises.
• Granting operating aid for renewable energy will become simpler and possible on a larger scale. For example, the annual overall budget for such aid schemes will no longer be limited to €300 million, while a simple cap per beneficiary remains applicable.
• Updated provisions to help addressing the housing crisis, by allowing higher aid intensities for energy-efficiency measures in social or affordable housing projects and for social enterprises providing housing.
• Updated rules to stimulate R&D and innovation. Young, innovative firms with a weak equity basis or that spend cash reserves for product development will no longer be barred from being eligible to receive aid for R&D and innovation. It will be easier to grant aid to innovation clusters, research infrastructure and testing and experimental infrastructure.
• Stronger incentives to upskill and reskill workers to boost competitiveness. For example, more aid can be granted for training workers in digital and STEM skills than under the current GBER.
• Agricultural production, fisheries and aquaculture will become eligible for most aid categories, giving Member States a choice to grant aid to these sectors under the GBER or the sectoral block exemptions.
• Clearer and more flexible rules applicable to aid for airports. For instance, the new GBER will increase the permitted size of airports eligible for operating aid.
• Clarity on the compatibility of aid in the form of financial instruments handled by financial intermediaries, such as investment funds or banks.
• The possibility of applying the so-called simplified cost options, such as flat-rate financing, unit costs or lump sums as a simple alternative to documenting ‘real’ costs in all aid measures where eligible costs need to be identified.
• Abolishing the obligation to evaluate aid schemes with large budgets.

Next steps

In addition to the consultation launched today, the draft Regulation will be discussed in meetings between the Commission and Member States. The public consultation will close on 23 April 2026. This process ensures that Member States as well as other interested parties have sufficient opportunities to comment on the proposal. The proposal under consultation and all details of the public consultation are available here. The adoption of the revised GBER is planned for the end of 2026, before the current GBER expires on 31 December 2026.

Background

Article 108(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union requires Member States to notify all State aid to the European Commission and to implement it only after the Commission’s approval. With the Enabling Regulation, the Council allows the Commission to declare that certain categories of State aid are compatible with the Single Market and exempted from the notification obligation.

The GBER allows Member States to implement a wide range of aid measures directly, without prior Commission approval. Member States implement most aid measures under the GBER: in 2024, Member States reported providing aid under 6,509 GBER measures, which represents 69% of all active measures. This figure increased from 41% in 2014, when the GBER entered into force.

The Commission has amended and prolonged the GBER several times. In 2017, the GBER was changed to include investment aid for airports, operating aid for small airports and investment aid for maritime ports and inland ports. In 2020, the GBER was amended to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Since 2021, the GBER includes aid involved in InvestEU operations, aid for RD&I projects that received a “Seal of Excellence” or are co-funded by the Horizon Europe Programme, aid for European Territorial Cooperation projects and certain aid categories in support of the green and digital transition. In 2023, the GBER was last updated to facilitate aid for sectors that are key for the transition to climate neutrality and to a net-zero industry.

The Commission initiated the revision of the GBER before it expires, to ensure a seamless transition to a new GBER. Today’s proposal follows a public consultation and call for evidence launched in July 2025.

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