GBER is the General Block Exemption Regulation, which allows member states to grant state aid without prior notification to and approval by the European Commission. If the aid falls within one of the defined categories and meets all the conditions of the regulation, the state can grant it directly and merely notify the Commission. This is precisely why most Slovak grant schemes rely on GBER – without it, every call would have to wait for individual approval. The regulation covers, among other things, regional investment aid, aid to small and medium-sized enterprises, support for research, development and innovation, environmental protection and energy, culture, and broadband networks. Each category carries strict conditions: maximum aid intensity, eligible expenditure, demonstration of incentive effect, and the exclusion of undertakings in difficulty. Breaching them constitutes unlawful state aid with an obligation to repay it together with interest.
See also: State aid, Aid intensity, Incentive effect.
