EU Commission to end relaxed COVID-19 state aid scheme

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission says it will gradually put an end to temporary rules that allowed the 27 EU member countries to benefit from extra public support during the coronavirus pandemic. Adopted in March 2020, the so-called State Aid COVID Temporary Framework relaxed the bloc’s strict state-aid to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic. The Commission said Thursday it adopted more than 1,300 decisions in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, approving nearly 950 national measures for an estimate total State aid amount approved of over €3 trillion.