State aid is any advantage granted to an undertaking from public resources that is selective, distorts or may distort competition, and affects trade between EU member states. It includes subsidies, tax relief, favourable loans, guarantees, and the sale of assets below market price. State aid is generally prohibited and may only be granted on the basis of exemptions – most often under the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER), an approved state aid scheme, or after notification to the European Commission. The coordinator of state aid in Slovakia is the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic. For applicants for EU funds, it is key that the aid intensity, eligible expenditure and the motivational effect of the project are governed by the relevant scheme; breaching it leads to the aid being repaid together with interest.
See also: De minimis aid scheme.
