MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY,
BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL
AFFAIRS
The Danish Government’s response to the Commission’s consultation
on the Code of Conduct of State Aid Control Proceedings
The Danish Government welcomes the Commission’s initiative to review
the Code of Best Practice on the Conduct of State Aid Control Proceed-
ings (hereinafter referred to as “the Code”) and appreciate the opportunity
to submit the views of the Danish Government on this initial stage of the
review process.
General remarks
In the Danish Government’s view the Code is a useful tool to provide
general information on the different steps in state aid procedures and the
effective cooperation between the Commission and Member States. The
Code encourages use of pre notification contacts which is a highly im-
portant tool to handle state aid issues effectively. Thus, the Code has had
a positive impact on the state aid procedures.
Since the entering into force of the Code on 1 September 2009, the State
Aid Modernisation process has taken place. It is now important that the
Code reflects this modernisation. Namely, since the 2013 revision of
Regulation 659/1999 (the Procedural Regulation changed the procedures
on handling complaints and gave the Commission powers to request in-
formation from sources other than Member States and the possibility to
impose fines for failure to reply to requests for information, introduced
sector inquiries etc. The Danish Government finds it very important that
the revised Code improves transparency and predictability of state aid
procedures in these areas too.
Furthermore, as a result of the state aid modernisation, more state aid is
now covered by the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) and
will not be notified to the Commission. The Danish Government finds
that there is a need to address the procedural steps in respect to the part-
nership between Member States and the Commission in order to ensure a
uniform interpretation and enforcement of the GBER throughout the EU.
MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY,
BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL
AFFAIRS
Slotsholmsgade 10-12
1015 Copenhagen K
Denmark
Tlf.
+45 33 92 33 50
Fax.
+45 33 12 37 78
CVR-nr. 10092485
EAN nr. 5798000026001
www.em.dk