What does it mean if funding is considered state-aid relevant?

State aid relevance exists if all conditions defined in Article 107(1) TFEU are met: “Unless otherwise provided in the Treaties, any aid granted by a Member State or through state resources in any form whatsoever which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favoring certain undertakings or the production of certain goods shall be incompatible with the internal market insofar as it affects trade between Member States.”
According to the European Court of Justice, an undertaking is any entity engaged in an economic activity that competes with other market participants in offering goods or services, regardless of legal status or profit intention. This definition includes private and public enterprises as well as non-profit organizations, provided they perform economic activities related to the production and marketing of goods and services.
If funding is state aid relevant, it can only be granted under a specific aid scheme (de minimis, GBER – General Block Exemption Regulation, or an authorization/exemption regime of the respective managing authority). This decision can only be made during project evaluation based on additional documents submitted by each project partner and the project application.
The assessment of state aid relevance also depends on project activities. If an entity carries out both economic and non-economic activities, only the economic activities qualify as an undertaking.
Preliminary guidance on state aid aspects may be provided during project consultation. To obtain this, the regionally responsible coordination office must receive completed supplementary documents and the technical data sheet.
For further information: Guidelines on State Aid_2023.pdf (interreg.net), especially Chapter VII.