More efforts needed to raise awareness of and enforce compliance with State aid rules in cohesion policy : Special report No 24, 2016

Over the past several years the Court of Auditors found a significant level of non-compliance with State aid rules in cohesion policy. The Court of Auditors and the Commission detected infringements of State aid rules at a far higher rate than the Member States, pointing to a need for more awareness and continued Commission support. For the 2007-2013 programme period, the Commission's databases did not allow a proper analysis of State aid errors nor did its monitoring result in significant recovery of State aid. The Commission has taken actions to simplify the applicable State aid legislation and to promote Member States' administrative capacity. Responsibility for implementation of State aid measures has been shifted to the Member States in the 2014-2020 programme period, which risks an increase in State aid errors.