Commission amends State aid rules to provide public access to justice in environmental matters

European Commission - Press release Commission amends State aid rules to provide public access to justice in environmental matters Brussels, 12 May 2025 The European Commission has adopted today amendments to its State aid rules to provide public access to justice in environmental matters in relation to EU State aid decisions. For that purpose, the Commission revised rules which allow non-governmental organisations (‘NGOs') to request a Commission review of certain State aid decisions to establish whether they contravene EU environmental law. This new review mechanism addresses the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee's findings in case ACCC/C/2015/128. The Commission has also taken the opportunity of this revision to update other provisions in the State aid Implementing Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 and the State aid Best Practices Code (‘BPC') in accordance with the Commission's established practice and the Court of Justice of the EU's case law. The new review mechanism The revision includes the following conditions, in particular, as specified in the BPC: Any NGO that meets a set of criteria may submit a review request. These criteria relate to the NGOs independence, non-profit nature and activity in relation to the request, as well as proven experience in the area of the environment. The acts that may be subject to review requests are final State aid decisions closing the formal investigation procedure initiated under Article 108(2) of the Treaty on the...