The maximum amount of State aid that the government is allowed to give over the next seven years has been reduced.
This is in line with the overall approach of the Regional Aid Guidelines, which aim at focusing support on the most disadvantaged regions of Europe, the European Commission said.
The new guidelines set out the conditions under which member states can grant State aid to businesses for regional development purposes.
Compared with the previous seven-year period, the “aid intensity” has dropped by 15 percentage points for the period 2014-2017 and by 20 percentage points for the period 2018-2020.
The maximum level of State aid for investment projects carried out by large companies is 15 per cent until December 31, 2017 and 10 per cent between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2020.
The aid can be increased by 10 percentage points for medium-sized enterprises and by 20 percentage points for small enterprises.
Commission vice president in charge of competition policy Joaquín Almunia said: “Under the new guidelines, Malta’s entire territory continues to be eligible for regional aid.
“This will allow the Maltese authorities to support regional investment in line with the objectives of EU state aid policy and in a way that also ensures the continuity of the Maltese regional policy.”