State aid for research, development and innovation in the European Union competition policy

The aim of this paper is to present legal and economic aspects of granting state aid for research, development and innovation activities of enterprises in the European Union. The principles on acceptability of state aid in the light of the EU competition policy were discussed. The analysis involved the value, structure and trends in aid granted for mentioned purpose in Member States. Another issue concerned the lack of correlation between the value of aid granted for research and development activity and results achieved in the EU Member States in the field of innovation. The author focused also on the number of decisions taken by the European Commission regarding particular objectives, programs and Member States in which the aid for research, development and innovation was implemented. The theoretical information were derived from selected analytical and strategic elaborations, documents and reports. The empirical data gathered mainly from Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission and from the Eurostat base.