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The overall goal of the Cohesion policy, the EU's key investment policy, is to support job creation, business competitiveness, economic growth and sustainable development in all regions. The policy is put in place for a seven-year period, currently 2014-2020. The EU's intervention regarding the Cohesion policy is being carried out via the ERDF, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund. The budget for the current 2014-2020 period is estimated to amount to €346 billion, or one third of the EU budget, according to the latest notification. Additional funding from the member States will bring the total amount spent to €477 billion. Outlays under the ERDF, the Cohesion Fund and the ESF amounted to €56.8 billion in 2013 and €52.8 billion in 2014.

The current General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) will remain in force until 31 December 2020, and authorizes aid in favour of: (...) environmental protection; (...)

[3.170. (...) The GBER applies to all sectors of the economy with some exceptions. Sectoral restrictions are set out in Article 1, paragraphs 3-5 of the Regulation, and include specific activities in the fishery and aquaculture sector, in the primary production of agricultural products, the coal sector, the steel sector, shipbuilding, and the synthetic fibres sector.]

[Context:
3.178. On 19 May 2016, the Commission published a new guidance document on the notion of state aid, the so-called "Notice on the notion of state aid". This Notice is the last part of the Commission's SAM initiative and is designed to help member States and public authorities to draw up funding in ways which do not distort competition. (...)]

For example, Section 7 of the Notice contains specific clarification on state measures concerning infrastructure. Section 2.6 discusses culture and heritage conservation, including nature conservation. In the domain of tax measures, Section 5.4.4 elaborates, inter alia, on when a tax ruling gives a company or a group of companies a selective advantage (Box 3.3).

In 2014, €99 billion were provided for non-crisis state aid (excluding transport), a 45% increase over spending in 2013 (Table 3.15). The biggest categories were: environmental protection, including energy saving which registered an almost three-fold increase over 2013 and accounted for more than 40% of total spending [173]; (...)

[173] The increase of renewable energy support schemes (RES) in the reporting stems, among others, from the increased awareness by member States of the state aid nature of subsidies to RES following the adoption of the 2014 Energy and Environmental Aid Guidelines. Indeed, 2014 shows an increase of the reported state aid on environmental protection and energy savings of about €28.5 billion at EU level.

Table 3.15 Non-crisis related state aid, 2009-14
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Non-agricultural aid 65,914.5 63,813.9 57,914.4 59,535.0 59,720.4 90,978.4
of which (by objective)
Compensation of damages caused by natural disasters 3.6 41.3 78.4 34.5 282.0 695.3
(...)
Environmental protection incl. energy saving 14,245.8 14,064.9 13,003.2 14,473.9 15,503.5 42,085.5
(...)

(...) In Germany's case, 80% of total state aid (less railways) was devoted to environmental protection, including energy saving. (...)

Under the directives, contract awards are based on the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) which "shall be identified on the basis of the price or cost, using a cost-effectiveness approach, such as life-cycle costing …, and may include the best price-quality ratio, which shall be assessed on the basis of criteria, including qualitative, environmental and/or social aspects, linked to the subject matter of the public contract in question". The criteria used for assessment are set out in the request for tenders. In assessing the life-cycle cost, imputed values for environmental externalities may be included. In addition, the contracting authorities may take into account criteria linked to the production process of the works, services or supplies to be purchased, such as the inclusion of vulnerable and disadvantaged people, or the use of non-toxic substances. Furthermore, a contracting authority may require that works, supplies, or services bear specific labels certifying environmental, social or other characteristics, as long as the label requirements only concern criteria which are linked to the subject matter of the contract and are appropriate to define characteristics of the works, supplies or services and that equivalent labels are accepted.

The following agreements with geographical indication (GI) coverage have been finalized or have entered into force since the last report:
(...)
In a similar vein, Protocol 3 attached to the Economic Partnership Agreement with Southern African Development Community (SACD) EPA States , signed on 10 June 2016 and provisionally applied since 10 October 2016, covers GI protection together with winemaking practices and certification requirements, but is applied only to South Africa and the EU for the time being. It includes detailed rules about the scope of protection, the relationship with trademarks and enforcement of GIs, as well as Annex I with a non-exhaustive list of more than 100 GIs from South Africa and more than 250 from the EU that are to be protected in both parties' jurisdictions and that third-country manufacturers will no longer be allowed to use for exports of their products to the EU and South Africa. On the other hand, the Economic Partnership Agreement concluded with the East African Community Partner States in October 2014 has only limited provisions in the field of GIs, recognizing their importance for sustainable agriculture and rural development. (...)

Since 1 January 2015, active farmers have had access to the compulsory schemes provided by all member States (the basic payment or single area payment, the greening payment, and the young farmers' scheme) and, if the member State has so decided, the voluntary schemes (redistributive payment, support in areas with natural constraints, and coupled support). Member States also have the option of applying a small farmers' scheme, which is a simplified scheme that replaces all other direct payments and exempts eligible farmers from greening and cross-compliance controls. Apart from the small farmers' scheme, all direct payment programmes are subject to provisions to ensure compliance with basic standards relating to the environment, food safety, animal and plant health and animal welfare (cross-compliance).

Eighteen member States apply the Basic Payment Scheme , while all others apply the Single Area Payment Scheme. Each of the ten member States using the Single Area Payment Scheme provides a uniform payment per eligible hectare. Eligibility for the Basic Payment Scheme or the Single Area Payment Scheme is a precondition for the complementary payments under the decoupled income schemes (greening payment, the young farmers' scheme, payments for areas with natural constraints, the small farmers' scheme, and redistributive payments).