Press Release: State aid: latest Scoreboard shows Member States moving towards less and better targeted aid over the past 6 years

The European Commission's latest state aid Scoreboard shows that Member States have been moving over the past six years towards the European Council objective of less and better targeted aid. In particular, the EU-10 Member States have progressively reoriented their state aid towards horizontal objectives of common interest such as regional development, R&D, SMEs and protecting the environment. With the exception of Malta and Hungary, they have all directed more than 85% of their aid to horizontal objectives which places them at or above the EU average. R&D aid has increased only moderately in the EU, but with the new R&D framework a further increase is expected in the future.