The article deals with restrictions by EU State aid law on the remediation of contaminated sites and the recycling of derelict land. In particular, the State aid guidelines for environmental protection, the General Block Exemption Regulation and the de minimis Regulation concretise the exception according to Article 107(3)(c) TFEU. All these regulations are part of the current State aid modernisation ('SAM') agenda by the European Union announced in summer 2013. The a