Our audit found that, for the period from August 2013 to the end
of 2018, the Commission had appropriate resources and tools
including an appropriate organisational set-up to carry out its
control of State aid financial institutions. However, it had not
always been in a position to use them to full effect.
The Commission’s performance indicators did not fully capture its
performance. We observed that market realities improved during
the audited period and up to the outbreak of COVID-19 and that
the regulatory framework had changed, but that the applicable
State aid rules themselves have not been modified since 2013.
In addition, we found that the effectiveness of the Commission’s
State aid control may have occasionally suffered from the fact
that the Commission did not contest Member States’ submissions
that the conditions for an exceptional approval of State aid
existed in each individual case.