The Measure is Selective

The rules on state aid prohibit aid “favouring certain undertakings or the production of certain goods”. State aid must be selective and thus affect the balance between certain firms and their competitors. Selectivity is what differentiates state aid from so-called general measures, namely measures which apply without distinction across the board to all firms on a certain economic sector or on all economic sectors in a member state or in the EU.

An aid scheme is considered selective, if the authorities administering the scheme possess a degree of discretionary power. The selectivity criterion is also satisfied if the scheme applies to only a part of the territory of a member state, e.g. regional and sectoral aid schemes. On closer inspection, general state aid measures falling outside of the scope of state aid rules are quite rare.