Three additional training sessions were organised for local public authorities (LPAs) in Cahul, Chișinău and Bălți under the Twinning Project. The sessions were delivered by Ms. Angelica Haliciu from the Competition Council of Romania and Mr. Marcin Machon from the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) of Poland.

The main objective of the training sessions was to strengthen the institutional and operational capacity of local public authorities (LPAs) in their role as State aid grantors, by enhancing their understanding of the enforcement of the legal framework, in line with the principles and requirements of European Union law.

The agenda included presentations on the fundamental concepts of State aid and the various forms of state aid, as well as on the definition, design and granting procedure of de minimis aid. Particular emphasis was placed on the risks associated with non-compliance in the process of granting de minimis aid, including the related legal and financial consequences.

A central topic of the discussions concerned the conditions for the application of State aid rules to services of general economic interest (SGEI), an area in which local authorities play a key role. In the same context, issues relating to categories of State aid exempted from the notification requirement at EU level under the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) were also addressed, including examples of support granted to various types of local infrastructure.

Participants received detailed explanations regarding the notification and reporting obligations related to State aid, as well as clarifications concerning the responsibilities of local public authorities acting as state aid grantors. These aspects were further complemented by the intervention of the Head of the State Aid Monitoring and Reporting Department of the Competition Council of the Republic of Moldova, Ms. Olesea Lungu, who outlined the conditions and deadlines applicable to State aid reporting.

The sessions were also attended by the Project Leader, Mr. Cosmin Belacurencu, and Mr. Adrian Comănescu, Member of the Plenum of the Competition Council of Romania.

The Twinning Project “Strengthening the institutional capacity of the Competition Council to enforce competition and State aid policies in line with EU best practices” is funded by the European Union and implemented by Romania, Lithuania and Poland over a period of 27 months.