Cyprus among Member States spending least on state aid

The Member State spending the least on state aid in 2022, around 0.3% percent of GDP was Ireland, followed by Cyprus and Luxembourg, with around 0.5% to 0.8% percent of their national GDP.

In 2022, the EU member states have spent a total of €228 billion in state aid marking a reduction of almost 35% year on year, mainly due to the phase-out of COVID-19 related support measures, according to the State Aid Scoreboard 2023.

According to a press release issued by the Office of the Commissioner for State Aid while in 2021, the dispersion of state aid ranged between 4.6% and 0.9% of national GDP, in 2022 it ranged between 2.1% and 0.3% percent of national GDP.

“The reduction is mainly driven by the phase-out of measures to mitigate the devastating economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the document said.

Nevertheless, total expenditure for COVID-19 measures amounted to €76.66 billion, covering around 34% of the total spending and representing 0.48% of EU27 GDP, while expenditure for measures related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine (TCF related measures) amounted to €39.33 billion, or around 17% of the total spending and 0.25% of the EU27 GDP.

Although crisis measures represent a minority of all active measures in 2022 (around 7%), they mobilised significant levels of support to ensure that otherwise viable businesses hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and by the energy crisis following the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine could keep afloat, the document added.

In terms of spending as a percentage of their GDP, the member-states spending the most, spent around 2.1%-1.8% of their national GDP (Hungary and Germany), while the Member State spending the least, around 0.3% percent of GDP was Ireland, followed by Cyprus and Luxembourg, with around 0.5% to 0.8% percent of their national GDP.

(Source: CNA)