Overview
It is possible for environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that meet certain criteria to request the European Commission to undertake an internal review of final State aid decisions adopted by the Commission if the decision is considered to contravene EU environmental legislation. Such a request must be submitted within 8 weeks after the date of publication of the State aid decision in the Official Journal.
How to submit a request for internal review?
Click here to download the review request form (available in all EU languages in ZIP-format)
Please make sure that you complete all the compulsory fields marked with a star (*) and respect the page limit of 9000 words (approx. 30 pages). Once you have completed the form, please send it by email to: stateaidgreffe
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (stateaidgreffe[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
Please note that:
- Attachments should not exceed 15 MB.
- If your email exceeds this size we recommend that you send a second email with the same "subject" line and the reference "email 2".
- Large size documents should be submitted via our secured platform EU Send.
If you do not wish your identity to be disclosed, please indicate this clearly.
What are the detailed rules for submitting a request?
The legal bases governing the submission of an internal review are:
The 'Implementing Regulation': Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004, as modified inter alia by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) [XX] amending Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 as regards an internal review mechanism to follow up on the findings of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee in case ACCC/C/2015/128 and other procedural updates.
The Communication from the Commission concerning the Code of Best Practices for the conduct of State aid control procedures (‘BPC’).
Who can validly lodge an internal review request?
Pursuant to paragraph 78 of the BPC, an NGO would be eligible to request an internal review, provided that:
- it is an independent, non-profit legal person in accordance with a Member State's national law or practice;
- it has the primary stated objective of promoting environmental protection in the context of environmental law;
- it has existed for more than two years and is actively pursuing the objective referred to above;
- the subject matter in respect of which the request for internal review is made is covered by its objective and activities.
Where NGOs are represented by another NGO, the representing NGO must also comply with these conditions.
Identical claims may be joined by the Commission. In case a joint request is made by several NGOs, a single contact point must be designated.
Evidence to be provided to determine eligibility
An NGO that submits an internal review request must provide evidence that it meets the eligibility criteria (see section 11.2 of the BPC) in the form of:
- statutes or by-laws
- annual activity reports for the last two years
- a copy of the legal registration with the national authorities
- information and documentation showing that the NGO has previously been acknowledged by the Commission as being eligible to make a request for internal review, along with a declaration by the non-governmental organisation that the conditions for eligibility continue to be met
- any other equivalent evidence
Which decisions can be concerned by an internal review request?
The acts that may be subject to such requests are final State aid decisions closing the formal investigation procedure initiated under Article 108(2) TFEU by finding that a measure is compatible with the internal market (‘positive decision’) or can be compatible under conditions (‘conditional decision’).
All grounds for compatibility under the Treaty for authorising State aid are falling within the scope of the review mechanism, except final decisions adopted under:
- Article 107(2) TFEU (‘aid having a social character, granted to individual consumers’ and ‘aid to make good the damage caused by natural disasters or exceptional occurrences’) and
- Article 107(3)(b) TFEU as far as it concerns aid ‘to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State’.
It means that eligible NGOs may make a request for internal review of the Commission’s final State aid decisions having as legal basis:
- Article 107(3), point (a), of the Treaty;
- Article 107(3), point (b), first part, of the Treaty;
- Article 107(3), point (c), of the Treaty;
- Article 107(3), point (d), of the Treaty;
- Article 107(3), point (e), of the Treaty;
- Article 106(2) of the Treaty;
- Article 93 of the Treaty.
What needs to be demonstrated for triggering a review by the Commission?
Eligible NGOs must show that the aided activity or any of the aspects of the State aid measure approved by the Commission decision, that are inseparable (‘indissolubly linked’ cf. EU Courts’ case law) to the object of the aid, are in breach of a specific rule or specific rules of EU environmental law. The Commission will publish guidance on the notion of ‘indissoluble link’.
What happens after the request is submitted?
You will receive an acknowledgment of receipt of your review request within 15 working days.
The Commission will examine the information received and provide you with a reply within a deadline of 16 weeks after the expiry of the eight-week deadline for the eligible NGO and at the latest within 22 weeks of the expiry of the eight week deadline (see section 11.7 on 'Time limits' of the Code of Best Practice for the conduct of State aid control procedures).
Where the Commission cannot respond to an internal review request in the language of the request within the (extended) deadline, it will aim at providing an English version of its response by that date and follow up with a translation in the language of the request as soon as possible afterwards. To speed up the internal review procedure, the Commission strongly encourages the use of a language waiver (paragraph 87 of the BPC).
Your non-confidential version of the review request may be submitted to the relevant Member State for comments. The Commission may also consult other relevant national authorities in any Member State to verify and assess the information provided regarding the eligibility criteria or the grounds of the request.