Public consultation on the revised SGEI Decision

“The proposed revised SGEI Decision aims to introduce new rules for affordable housing. The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise wishes to express its general scepticism regarding the use of State aid as a means to influence the housing market and to promote more affordable housing, as it risks being ineffective and generating distortions of competition.

As the Commission now nevertheless proposes that aid under the SGEI Decision should also be permissible for affordable housing, it is essential that strict requirements are imposed to ensure that such aid may only be granted through schemes that are open to all potential operators, allowing them to compete on equal terms for access to the aid. Under no circumstances should the aid, whether formally or in practice, confer preferential treatment on certain market participants, such as publicly owned companies. The possibility of granting aid should be restricted to specific, well-documented situations that are geographically limited and take into account the overall supply of housing. In circumstances where there is a significant oversupply of housing, it would not be reasonable to further increase that supply through State aid, as this would adversely affect market operators.

We also note that the Commission proposes to raise the passenger threshold for airports, allowing airports with up to 500,000 passengers to receive SGEI aid under the Decision. Although this represents a significant improvement compared to the current situation, it does not constitute a sufficient increase.

Existing studies indicate that at least 700,000 passengers are required for an airport to have a reasonable chance of covering its costs. Given the increase in fixed costs, this threshold now appears overly restrictive. We therefore consider that raising the limit to 700,000 passengers would be a more appropriate benchmark for the Decision, reflecting the actual economic conditions airports currently face.”