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The European Commission opened this week a call for evidence for an impact assessment in view of adopting a Block Exemption Regulation on State Aid for land transport coordination. In parallel with the revision of the 2008 Community Guidelines on State aid for railway undertakings, this initiative should enable Member States to provide aid that contributes to a modal shift towards sustainable land transport modes.

The Commission notes that all State aid measures to promote sustainable land transport must, in principle, be notified to the Commission. Certain categories of cases in the rail and other sustainable land transport sectors (such as inland waterways and certain multimodal transport solutions) have routinely led to non-objection decisions without raising problems. In particular, this concerns aid for external costs reduction, aid for infrastructure use, and aid for interoperability, but also aid for facilities such as intermodal terminals and private sidings. Therefore, the Commission is considering adopting a Block Exemption Regulation for this type of State aid measures, to reduce administrative burden on national administration and private stakeholders. 

The initiative is closely linked to the ongoing revision of the Combined Transport Directive, as it would set the conditions for public support for the uptake of intermodal transport and support modal shift from road to more sustainable mode of transport.

The call for evidence is open until 3 April 2024. It will be followed by an 8-week public consultation and consultation with Member States and other stakeholders, before the possible adoption of a block exemption Regulation. According to tentative planning, the impact assessment should be completed by Q4 2024, and the potential Block Exemption Regulation should be presented around Q4 2025.