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The information of public diffusion indicates that 45 thousand. The municipality provided support to the “Music Awards of the Year” association, which organized the MAMA event, charged to its budget through the “Initiatives for Kaunas” program.
The Competition Council, which coordinates the state aid issues covered by the European Union state aid regulations, drew the municipality’s attention to the fact that the association carries out competitions, awards, organization of events and similar activities, which are considered economic and commercial activities.
After evaluating the compliance of the support provided to the organizers of the MAMA event with the criteria of state aid, the Competition Council informed the Municipality of Kaunas that the support provided satisfies them all: the support is selective because it was received by an entity specific economic, that is, association; the aid confers an exceptional economic advantage, since it relieves the company of its financial burden and strengthens its position in the market compared to that of its competitors.
In addition, the Association competes with economic entities established in Lithuania and other countries of the European Union by conducting competitions, awards, event organization activities, therefore, in the opinion of the Competition Council, the impact on trade and the competition between the criteria of the Member States.
“When aid to economic operators meets all the criteria for state aid, the aid provider has two options.
First, notify the European Commission of the planned state aid.
Second, such measures can be implemented in accordance with the provisions of any of the Commission regulations that exempt the measure from the obligation to coordinate with the European Commission ”, wrote the Competition Council to the municipality.
Given that the state aid granted and the negligible (de minimis) does not record information on the aid granted by the municipality to the association, the Competition Council considers that this aid may be considered illegal state aid.
The municipality has been instructed to act to legalize the aid, otherwise it may be considered illegal and may be recovered in the interest of the beneficiary by decision of the European Commission or national courts.
