Appropriateness of the measure. (30) The Hungarian authorities are of the opinion that the notified aid in the form of direct pecuniary advantages (cash grant and tax benefit) is an appropriate aid measure. Hungary refers to the Commission decision in case C-46/2008 Dell Poland (23) explaining that in such case the Commission accepted the appropriateness of a direct grant in light of the macroeconomic need for State aid for large investment projects, in order to stimulate economic development at the regional level (in a region where the gross domestic product per capita and the wage levels are below the national average and the unemployment rate is higher than the national average). Hungary also submits that the non-repayable cash grant is appropriate as it is necessary to bridge the net present value (‘NPV’) gap between the alternative location and Miskolc (recital (87)).
Appropriateness of the measure. (156) According to paragraph 50 of the RAG 2014 and paragraph 78 of the RAG 2022, the notified aid measure must be an appropriate policy instrument to promote regional development. The RAGs underline that an aid measure will not be considered compatible if other less distortive policy instruments or other less distortive types of aid instruments are available. Section 3.4 of the RAG 2014 and section 5.4 of the RAG 2022 therefore introduce a double appropriateness test. Under the first appropriateness test, Member States in particular have to identify the bottlenecks to regional development and the specific handicaps of firms operating in the target region, and to clarify to what extent bottlenecks to regional development could also successfully be targeted by non-aid measures. Under the second appropriateness test, the Member State has to indicate why — in view of the individual merits of the case — the chosen form of regional investment aid is the best instrument to influence the investment or location decision.