GBER 2023 Amendment

State aid

26 September 23 2 min read

The new amendment to General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER 2023 amendment) has come into force. This has an influence on Interreg programmes, which include:

Changing thresholds

The threshold for aid granted under Article 20 is raised to EUR 2.2 million per undertaking, per project.

The threshold for aid granted under Article 20a is raised to EUR 22 000 per undertaking, per project.

The threshold to report on each individual aid award in Transparency Award Module (TAM) is lowered to EUR 100 000. The same reporting threshold (and not EUR 10 000) is applicable also to beneficiaries active in primary agricultural production or in the fishery and aquaculture sector each receiving aid under Section 2a, ie. under Article 20 or Article 20a.

Refundable VAT is ineligible

Please note that Value added tax charged on eligible costs or expenses that is refundable under the applicable national tax law shall, however, not be taken into account for calculating aid intensity and eligible costs.

In other words, refundable VAT is completely ineligible under GBER.

Prolongation of GBER

GBER is prolonged until 31 December 2026. Please check the duration of your scheme as you might have to update it. The schemes can be prolonged up to 31 December 2026.

On the basis of Article 58(5) of GBER the current schemes are still applicable during an adjustment period of six months.

Please note that we revised both GBER and Interreg Factsheet as well as Article 20a report so that they are in line with 2023 GBER Amendment.