Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The EU Commission found that Italy’s support for Cineca does not constitute illegal State aid under EU rules.
The European Commission has determined that particular Italian measures in favour of Cineca, a non-profit consortium whose members include the Ministry of Education and Research (MIUR), Italian universities and national institutions, do not form aid within the meaning of EU State aid laws.
What was the focus of the EU investigation?
According to the EU Commission, in March 2021 following a complaint, it unlocked an in-depth investigation to investigate whether (i) the annual public financing delivered since 2004 by Italy to Cineca for the provision of information technology (IT) services to the MIUR, and (ii) the payments by Italian universities to Cineca for the provision of IT services, comprise illegal and incompatible State aid. In addition, the investigation aimed to describe whether Cineca used public financing to cross-subsidise economic movements in markets where it might compete with other market players.
Why does Cineca’s public funding not breach EU rules?
The European Commission evaluated the Italian measures under EU State aid rules, in particular of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Commission discovered that the measures do not constitute State aid, given that Cineca is not an implementation concerning the concerned movements.
Moreover, the Commission specified, in particular, that the provision of IT services in this context is inherently linked to the State’s task of delivering tertiary education. As regards the subject of cross-subsidisation, the Commission figured that Cineca has put in place sufficient safeguards to control cross-subsidisation between the supported actions and its economic activities in markets where it confronts competition. Finally, on this basis, the EU Commission concluded that the steps do not constitute State aid under EU State aid rules.
