Draft amendment of the Law on State Aid submitted to the Government by the Competition Council.

For the purpose of adjusting the national regulatory framework in the field of State aid to the European Union rules and implementing the actions set out in the Government Action Plan for 2023 approved by Government Decision No. 90/2023, the Competition Council has developed proposals to amend Law No. 139/2012 on State Aid.

An important innovative element foreseen in the draft law is the proposal that the Plenum of the Competition Council, by means of a decision, will periodically increase and update the de minimis aid threshold to the level of the de minimis threshold set at EU level, taking into account the EU regulatory framework and best practices of Member States.

In view of the shortcomings in the application of the law over almost 10 years without essential changes, it is proposed to supplement the law with new definitions provided in EU case law, such as: date of granting of State aid, date of payment of State aid, eligible costs, aid intensity, which are not defined in the Law on State Aid and are often confused and misinterpreted by State aid providers and beneficiaries. These concepts are important to provide clarity and predictability in some aspects of the applicability of the Law on State Aid.

Therewith, the draft includes some additions concerning:

  – the conditions to be respected by suppliers when granting de minimis aid, so that support measures offered to enterprises do not significantly distort the competitive environment;

  – simplified State aid notification procedure;

  – the method for calculating the deadlines for the procedure for the examination of notifications by the Competition Council;

  – extending the time limit for investigating infringements of State aid law to 18 months from the opening of the procedure;

  – modification of the method of calculating the interest on unlawfully granted State aid to be recovered;

  – information, as a general rule, which cannot be treated as confidential information by the competition authority in the process of exercising control over State aid granted to beneficiaries.

In addition, the draft proposes to change the date of submission by the Competition Council of the Annual Report on State Aid granted in the previous year in the Republic of Moldova to the Parliament and the Government – annually by 31 December of the current year.

The draft law amending the Law No. 139/2012 on State Aid has been submitted to the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitisation for initiation and promotion.