The European Savings and Retail Banking Group (ESBG) welcomes the initiative of the European Commission to launch a targeted consultation aiming at reviewing the State Aid rules for banks in difficulty.

The potential revision will assess the fitness of the current rules regarding burden-sharing, market discipline, financial stability, and the protection of taxpayers among other things. The modernized framework should ensure that the State Aid rules are applied proportionally, are adapted to the crisis management and deposit insurance (CMDI) legislation and are specifically targeted at different kinds of bank crises.

ESBG argues that all DGS measures available under the CMDI framework applied in accordance with the rules established by the DGSD and the BRRD/SRMR, regardless of national specificities in the design, the governance, and the functioning of DGSs, should be exempted from the application of the regular State Aid control rules. It should be made clear that when DGS funds are used for support measures, State Aid rules should not be applicable and no notification to the Commission be required. Exempting the application of the State Aid rules on actions under the CMDI framework will allow the effective and undisturbed use of measures foreseen under DGSD/BRRD/SRMR.
Furthermore, and until such improvements are effectively achieved, ESBG finds it important to avoid any increase in contributions to the national DGS and to the Single Resolution Fund (SRF).

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