The Commission requirement concerning the evaluation of State aid schemes is one of the pillars of the State Aid Modernisation (SAM) reform of 2014. The aim of the evaluations conducted under State aid rules is to provide evidence on both the direct impact of the aid on its beneficiaries and on its indirect impacts, positive and negative, as well as on the proportionality and appropriateness of the aid measure. This article provides an account of the state of play in the evaluation of State aid schemes. To this end, we analyse the legal framework of the evaluation requirements as outlined under the General Block Exemption Regulation and under different State aid guidelines, and synthesise the characteristics of the current 45 evaluation plans, and of the Commission decisions approving them. Finally we discuss the lessons learnt from the first final evaluation reports submitted and reflect on challenges ahead.
Keywords: State aid Modernisation; State aid control; Evaluation plan.