The State Aid Scoreboard provides information on state aid granted by the EFTA States. It was first published in 2011 and is issued yearly. ESA also publishes an accompanying data set.
View all State Aid ScoreboardsState aid
The EEA state aid rules
ESA monitors state aid granted by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway in order to allow fair competition and an open Internal Market in the European Economic Area.
What is state aid?
State aid is public support to commercial activities. It can take many forms, for example cash grants, tax breaks or favourable loans. As a rule, the EEA Agreement prohibits state aid to prevent negative impacts on trade, but exceptions are made for purposes such as environmental protection, regional support and research, innovation and development. The state aid rules in the EEA Agreement are broadly equivalent to those that apply across the European Union.
The role of ESA
ESA enforces the general prohibition on state aid that applies in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. It is also ESA's task to decide how exceptions to the general prohibition are to apply.
In this, ESA plays the same role as the European Commission. ESA works closely with the Commission to ensure that the rules are applied the same way all over the EEA.
