COVID-19 Key EU Developments, Policy & Regulatory Update No. 79

COMPETITION & STATE AID

Competition

 European Commission publishes 2021 General Report on Activities of the European Union (see  here)

 On 9 March 2022, the Commission published "The EU in 2021 – General Report on the Activities of the European Union."

The Report notes that in 2021, following one of the most challenging years in the EU's history, the EU began to launch its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This included the EU's continued and extended efforts to respond to the crisis, with over 2,326 measures adopted in total to provide support since the beginning of the pandemic.

As concerns State aid, in 2021, the Report noted:

• The Commission's continued use of State aid rules as part of its policy response to the pandemic's severe impact on the economy. By end-2021, the Commission had adopted over 730 decisions, approving nearly 900 national measures notified by the Member States, for a total funding amount of