Commission approves Swedish State aid scheme to improve conditions in houses, schools and workplaces

Background and further information:

The aim of this sceme is to reduce to presence of allergenic substances or other materials that constitute health hazards. This was an amendment to an environmental scheme approved in July 1999 and in operation until the end of 2001. Its objective is to encourage municipalities and enterprises to carry out projects which improve the ecological sustainability of Swedish society.

The European Commission initially had doubts on the acceptability of such state aid, therefore opening an investigation under Article 88.2 of the EC Treaty. The investigation led to the conclusion that the Community guidelines on State aid for environmental protection, on which the original approval of the scheme was based, could not be applied in this case. The Commission decided to close the procedure with a positive decision based on the provisions of the Treaty on the health and safety of workers as well as public health and environmental protection in general.

The European Commission approved on 12 July 2000 a scheme set up by the Swedish government comprising grants to municipal and private stakeholders for renovation works in buildings.