EU Wants to Extend Looser State Aid Rules for Virus-Hit Companies to Mid-2022

European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on May 5, 2021. Yves Herman/Reuters

BRUSSELS—The European Commission on Thursday proposed extending looser state aid rules for virus-hit companies for six months to June 2022 in a bid to slowly wean them off the billions of euros provided by governments across the European Union.

The EU executive, tasked with ensuring a level playing field in the 27-country bloc, also proposed two new measures to encourage investment support and solvency support for a limited time to help Europe rebound from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.