欧盟外国补贴条例草案

2020年6月，欧盟委员会（European Commission, “欧委会”）发布了《关于在外国补贴方面创造公平竞争环境的白皮书》（ “《白皮书》”）1。2021年5月5日，继《白皮书》之后，欧委会发布了针对非欧盟（外国）补贴的条例草案，即《针对扭曲内部市场的外国补贴的条例建议稿》（ “《条例草案》”）。这是一份长达65页的文件，既回答了很多问题，也提出了很多问题。欧盟中国商会结合欧盟和各国现有的外国直接投资审查和反垄断审查工具，已经对《草案条例》的“合理性”和“必要性”表现出担忧。
《条例草案》涵盖了非欧盟国家补贴可能引起调查或申报的三种具体情形，即并购、公共采购和市场行为（即行为表现）。
考虑到《条例草案》在最终生效之前可能需要经过12-15个月的立法时间，本短讯的目的是提醒读者，注意最终生效条例中的并购部分可能会给中国企业带来的影响。
首先，了解立法背景十分重要。这一立法举措，同已经生效的欧盟层面的外国直接投资审查机制一样，并没有将中国或任何其他非欧盟国家政府单独列出。尽管如此，欧委会认为有必要遏制那些受到非欧盟政府补贴的公司在欧盟内部市场扭曲竞争的能力。换句话说，欧盟长期执行的、与从欧盟政府获得国家援助有关的规则应该扩大适用于从非欧盟政府获得的援助。
关于背景的第二点说明是，本条例通过之后，相当于开展外国直接投资审查的工作事实上由成员国转移给了欧委会。新条例将与现有的欧盟和/或成员国合并控制审查机制一同运作。例如，对于那些符合《欧盟并购条例》的并购，或者需要向法国或德国反垄断机构申报的并购，也可能需要根据外国补贴新条例向欧盟进行强制性申报。
按照目前的设想，当目标公司在欧盟的营业额超过5亿欧元，并且收购方在过去三年中曾收到超过5000万欧元的非欧盟国家补贴的，根据新条例将需要进行强制性申报。
与《欧盟合并条例》一样，调查将分为第一阶段（25个工作日）和潜在的第二阶段（90个工作日），在此期间交易需要暂停。欧委会在新条例下的权力与《欧盟合并条例》中的类似，包括可以禁止某项合并和附条件批准。同样地，欧委会可以对没有申报的收购方企业最高处以其全球销售额10%的罚款。
即将出台的条例要求收购方企业追踪和计算其在过去三年中从所有非欧盟政府处获得的补贴。中国的收购方企业不仅需要考虑来自中国的援助，还需要考虑例如来自印度、非洲和南美国家以及“一带一路”倡议参与国的援助。
符合“外国补贴” 条件的包括：拨款、贷款、税收减免和免除、债务豁免和担保。《条例草案》没有明确规定与研发有关的政府拨款和福利，但我们必须假设，这种形式的援助也可能被视为“外国补贴”。
对于中国的国有企业来说，根据《欧盟合并条例》确定的欧盟惯例，其很容易达到申报门槛。在案件EDF/CGN/NNB (2016)2和案件ChemChina/Syngenta (2017)3中，收购方的营业额包括了收购方所属的国有资产监督管理委员会（“国资委”）所控制的同一行业的所有公司的营业额。
但是，在不同的监管机制下，企业向欧委会提供的数据和分析可能具有很大的区别。欧委会预计将雇用约145名新官员，用来处理和外国补贴相关的激增的工作量。
DRAFT EU REGULATION ON FOREIGN SUBSIDIES
As a follow-up to its White Paper on foreign subsidies (June 2020), the European Commission, on 5 May 2021, published a Draft Regulation on non-EU (foreign) subsidies1. This is a 65-page document which raises as many questions as it answers. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce to the EU has already expressed concerns about its "rationality" and "necessity" in view of the existing EU and national FDI screening and antitrust tools.
The Draft Regulation covers three specific situations in which non-EU subsidies may trigger an investigation/filing: M&A, public procurement and market conduct (i.e. behavior).
Given that the legislative timetable could be anywhere between 12-15 months before the Draft Regulation becomes final, the purpose of this short newsflash is to alert the reader to what the M&A sections of the final Regulation are likely to entail for Chinese companies.
First, it is important to understand the context. This legislative initiative, like the EU-level FDI screening mechanism already in effect, does not single out China or any other non-EU government. This being said, the EU Commission believes that it is necessary to curb the ability of non-EU government-subsidized companies to distort competition within the EU. In other words, the EU's long-enforced rules relating to EU-government state aids should be expanded to aid received from non-EU governments.
A second note on context: When this Regulation is adopted, it will amount to a de facto shift in FDI screening from the Member States to the European Commission. The new Regulation will operate alongside the existing structure of EU and/or national merger control reviews. For example, a merger falling with the EU Merger Regulation, or alternatively requiring notification to the antitrust authorities of France or Germany, may also trigger a mandatory EU filing under the new Regulation on foreign subsidies.
As currently envisaged, the new Regulation would trigger a mandatory notification when the target's EU turnover exceeds €500 million and the acquirer has received over €50 million in non-EU subsidies over the previous three years.
Like the EU Merger Regulation, there would be a Phase I (25 business days) and potentially a Phase II (90 business days) investigation, during which the deal must be suspended. Like the EUMR, the Commission's powers under the forthcoming Regulation would include the potential prohibition of the merger and approval subject to conditions. Likewise, the Commission may fine the acquiring company up to 10% of its global sales for failing to notify.
The forthcoming Regulation would place a burden on the acquiring company to track and calculate its incoming subsidies from all non-EU government sources over the previous three years. Chinese acquirers would need to take into account not only China-origin aid, but also aid from, for example, India, African and South American nations, and countries participating in the "belt-and-road" initiative.
The contributions qualifying as "foreign subsidies" would include: grants, loans, tax breaks and write-offs, debt forgiveness and guaranties. The Draft Regulation does not explicitly address R&D related government grants and benefits, but one must assume that the value of such aid may also be deemed a "foreign subsidy".
For Chinese SOEs, it is already established EU practice under the EUMR that its thresholds are easily met. Cases such as EDF/CGN/NNB (2016)2 and ChemChina/Syngenta (2017)3 have held that the acquirer's turnover includes that of all companies in the same sector within the acquirer's SASAC.
However, the data and analysis to be provided to the Commission under each regulatory scheme will be quite different. The Commission anticipates the hiring of about 145 new officials in anticipation of its enlarged workload relating on foreign subsidies.
参考文献：
[1]https://ec.europa.eu/competition/international/overview/proposalforregulation.pdf
[2]https://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/decisions/m78504293.pdf
[3]https://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/decisions/m796240973.pdf