All RDAs across England are closing by March 2012
(see transition and closure section).
With our resources reducing steadily, this page has not been recently updated and the information below may not be current.
If in doubt, please contact us directly.
State aid
State aid is a European Commission term
that refers to forms of assistance from a public body, or publicly
funded body, given to undertakings on a discretionary basis, with
the potential to distort competition and affect trade between
member states of the European Union.
The 'State aid rules' are set out by the EC and comprise various
articles of the EC Treaty, regulations, frameworks and guidelines.
These describe what aid can be given. The EC governs member states'
compliance with these rules and must be notified of all schemes
involving State aid. State aid granted without Commission approval,
or classified as within the scope of a Block Exemption, is
automatically viewed as unlawful and recoverable.
All proposals that are accepted by the Agency for detailed
application are appraised thoroughly prior to recommendation for
acceptance, approval and the issuing of an offer letter. That
appraisal includes a detailed examination of any State aid, which,
if found to be present, is verified as being within the allowable
intervention rates under any of the various options for exempted
State aid. Where State aid is present but allowable, the South West
RDA notifies the European Commission of such projects through the
Department for Business, Innovation and
Skills (BIS).