The European Commission has approved a EUR 6 billion German state aid to compensate public transport companies that faced damages due to coronavirus pandemic.
The scheme “enables Germany to compensate them for the damage suffered due to the outbreak and the emergency measures put in place to limit the spread of the virus. We continue working with all Member States to ensure that national support measures can be put in place as quickly and effectively as possible, in line with EU rules,” Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, said.
The scheme is designed to compensate each regional and local public transport operator for the suffered losses while fulfilling their contractual obligations under the circumstances determined by the coronavirus outbreak and the resulting containment measures.
Under the scheme, the transport companies will be entitled to compensation in the form of direct grants for damages incurred between 1 March and 31 August 2020. Germany will ensure that no individual transport operator receives more in compensation than it suffered in damages and that any payment in excess of the actual damage is recovered.
As the German government took emergency measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the regional and local public transport services were severely affected. The passenger numbers in local public transport by road and rail recorded a decrease between 70% and 90%, resulting in a significant drop in revenues. At the same time, the public transport companies had obligation to maintain a sufficient frequency of the transport services to ensure the mobility of people without access to alternative means of transport, including essential workers such as health professionals. The situation was exacerbated by additional costs incurred by transport operators in relation to measures aimed at containing the spread of the contagion, such as enhanced sanitary and hygiene measures. All of this has led to serious liquidity problems that risk driving many of the transport operators out of the market.
In March 2020, the EC adopted a state aid Temporary Framework to enable Member States to use the full flexibility foreseen under state aid rules to support the economy in the context of the coronavirus outbreak. The framework will be in place until the end of December 2020.
Share on:
