SELECTED ASPECTS OF PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN EUROPEAN UNION THROUGH THE PRISM OF BLOCK EXEMPTION REGULATION

The subject of the paper is to discuss selected aspects of public support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the context of present development on internal market. SMEs are regarded as the backbone of national economy. European Commission gives them particular attention, especially in terms of business support. European Union countries are trying to strengthen the competitiveness and innovativeness of SMEs through the operational programs and specific support. The aim of this article is through an analysis of public support for SMEs to characterize and identify its trend through the prism of modernized state aid rules in the European Union (EU) with special emphasis on the area of new block exemption regulation. The need to reform the regulation of state aid in EU was caused not only by external socio-economic factors. At the end of 2013 expired validity of key public support tools and began to be prepared multiannual financial framework of the EU for the period 2014-2020. The article focuses on state aid for SMEs in European Union Member States in accordance with Commission Regulation no. 651/2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty. Special attention is given to selected categories of aid to SMEs in revisited General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) which releases Member States from the obligation to notify to the European Commission a number of state aid measures. The analysis covers the period 2008-2014.