morning - Competitiveness Council

24 septembre 2026

Council of the European Union Conseil européen

00:00 - 02:34
Intervenant 1
Fellow member states, journalists as well.  I would like to thank Bulgaria for joining the paper as well.  And the main thing is the ongoing geopolitical challenges that Europe is facing.  Everyone is talking about it.  Many of us are tired of talking about it, but it won't disappear if we pretend that the business is as usual. 

Our businesses currently are facing high energy prices, high prices for commodities, huge amount of additional requests, transformation, etc.  And it's cross-sectoral.  Thus, we have one instrument in Europe and it's de minimis regulation that allows the state to be very flexible to give out support for SMEs, for companies that are facing different challenges. 

A real helping hand, a really flexible helping hand that member states can decide on.  But there is an issue, and the issue is the ceiling, how much we can help.  And the ceiling was raised from 200 to 300,000 euros, but it's not enough.  And our position as Latvia, we have been consequent with this.  We understand that the prices have risen, and 300,000 euros do not represent today's reality. 

For example, how much an apartment costs in the Brussels center for a family of four.  The costs have risen, but we need solutions for companies now, for business, because if they close their doors, they won't open them again.  And we are proposing to raise the ceiling in general to 1 million euros and sectoral ceilings as well.  Because we request from different industries, from primary agriculture, from fishery, to adapt to the green digital agenda, but it's very hard to go through the processes with European Commission on other support mechanisms. 

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