Consultation on State aid Framework for RDI

On 8 April 2021, the European Commission has launched a public consultation inviting all interested parties to comment on a proposed targeted revision of the State aid Framework for research, development and innovation (the “RDI Framework”). The RDI Framework aims at facilitating research, development and innovation activities, which, due to market failures, would not occur in the absence of public support. The Commission has conducted an evaluation of the current RDI Framework as part of the State aid Fitness Check. The evaluation revealed that the current provisions of the RDI Framework work well overall, and constitute an effective tool in facilitating research, development and innovation activities at both national and European level. At the same time, the evaluation showed that some targeted adjustments of the existing rules may be necessary to reflect the latest regulatory, economic and technological developments. Furthermore, the RDI Framework may need to be aligned to the Commission's new strategic priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the EU's Digital Strategies. Interested parties can respond to the consultation until 3 June 2021. The adoption of the new RDI Framework is foreseen for the second half of 2021.