European Commission
#StateAid - Commission approves €20 million Italian scheme supporting noise reduction in rail freight transport
The European Commission has approved under EU state aid rules a €20 million aid scheme to support noise reduction of rail freight traffic in Italy. The aid will be granted through a reimbursement of up to 50% of the cost of equipping rail freight wagons operating in Italy, which have been put into circulation before 1 January 2015 with less noisy composite brake blocks. This retrofitting will allow reducing noise emissions of older wagons to more restrictive noise levels which are mandatory for new wagons. The scheme is open to all railway companies and owners of wagons established in the European Economic Area who operate freight transport on the Italian railway network and the aid will be granted on non-discriminatory terms. The Commission found that the measure is necessary as, absent the support, railway companies and owners of existing freight wagons would not have sufficient incentives to carry out the retrofitting.
On this basis, the Commission concluded that the measure is compatible with EU state aid rules, in particular Article 93 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union regarding transport coordination and the Commission Guidelines on state aid for railway companies. More information will be available on the Commission's competition website in the public case register under the case number SA.51229 once any confidentiality issues have been resolved.
Share this article:
EU Reporter publishes articles from a variety of outside sources which express a wide range of viewpoints. The positions taken in these articles are not necessarily those of EU Reporter. Please see EU Reporter’s full Terms and Conditions of publication for more information EU Reporter embraces artificial intelligence as a tool to enhance journalistic quality, efficiency, and accessibility, while maintaining strict human editorial oversight, ethical standards, and transparency in all AI-assisted content. Please see EU Reporter’s full A.I. Policy for more information.
Stepping out...to get the UK back in European Union
Improving energy efficiency of buildings to reduce bills and save energy
Energy use in the industry sector continues to decline
DG Translation in a city near you: June events
Europe must not turn its back on rural women’s empowerment
The role of quality assurance in advancing inclusive upper secondary VET in Slovenia
Commission accelerates transition away from animal testing in chemical safety assessments
Counterfeit cigarettes drive illicit tobacco trade to highest level in a decade, new study claims
Inconvenient questions about Andorra and San Marino that Brussels should be asking
How digital wallets are changing the way Welsh consumers pay for online services
Impasse in European Union Tobacco Tax Reform: The Swedish veto
EU Cybersecurity Act could expose member states to costly investment treaty claims, legal opinion warns
Várhelyi says unilateral measures by the US against the EU ‘would not be justified’
Libya’s fuel crisis offers lessons for energy security on both sides of the Mediterranean
490+ experts call for €10 billion ring-fenced health allocation in EU budget
ENVI opinion signals early resistance to Biotech Act SPC extension
Kazakhstan reforms under scrutiny at Brussels Press Club round table
Japan should face up to history and contribute more to regional peace
Ambassador calls for 'speeding up' of co-operation between EU and Kazakhstan
Timur Turlov at Smart Moves Summit 2025: How chess can transform global education
Shevtsova’s case: Out-of-court sanctions dismantling trust in Ukrainian cause
The future of European transport
Trump Vs Trueman
