# EUR-Lex - 52012PC0730 - EN

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# 52012PC0730

**Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Council Regulation (EC) No 994/98 of 7 May 1998 on the application of Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty establishing the European Community to certain categories of horizontal State aid and Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road /* COM/2012/0730 final - 2012/0344 (NLE) */**

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.           OBJECTIVE AND CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

In the interest of enforcement and to
simplify administration without weakening Commission monitoring, Council
Regulation (EC) No 994/98 of 7 May 1998 on the application of Articles 92 and 93
of the Treaty establishing the European Community to certain categories of
horizontal State aid (hereinafter the ‘Enabling Regulation’)[1] allows the Commission to
declare, by means of regulations, that certain categories of State aid are
compatible with the common market and are exempted from the notification
requirement provided for in Article 108(3) of the TFEU. The categories
concerned include de minimis aid[2],
aid to small and medium-sized enterprises, aid for research and development,
environmental protection or employment and training, and aid that complies with
the map approved by the Commission for each Member State for the grant of
regional aid.

The Commission indicated in its
Communication on State aid Modernisation of 8 May 2012[3] that State aid enforcement
should focus on cases with the biggest impact on the internal market. This
implies on the one hand stronger scrutiny of large and potentially distortive
aid, and on the other simplified analysis of cases with only limited effect on
trade and limited potential to seriously distort competition. The latter can be
achieved by reviewing the regime of exemptions, in particular the scope of
Council Regulation (EC) No 994/98, which would enable the Commission to block-exempt
further categories of aid from the notification requirement, in addition to the
categories already included in the current Enabling Regulation.

The proposal to include certain new
categories in the Enabling Regulation entails neither the immediate block exemption
of all these categories, nor does it mean that all measures within a category
would be block-exempted in their entirety. Rather, it enables the Commission to
adopt block exemptions gradually, when experience acquired is sufficient to allow
the Commission to define clear compatibility criteria for certain types of aid
measures, ensuring that the effect on competition and trade between Member
States is limited. The same approach has been followed under the current
Enabling Regulation: the first block exemptions were adopted in 2001 (training
aid, aid to SMEs), while for other types of aid the first exemptions were
adopted only at a later stage, once sufficient experience had been acquired
(employment aid in 2002, regional aid in 2006, and R&D and environmental
aid in 2008 with the adoption of GBER[4]).
More frequent revisions of the Enabling Regulation may in the future be needed, in
particular to have due regard to the investments required by and compatible
with the development of the internal market, in the light of the
experience gained. Following a decision on the next Multiannual Financial Framework,
the Commission will also assess without delay the possibilities to
simplify the State aid procedures for projects co-financed under the EU
structural policies.

New
categories proposed for inclusion in the Enabling Regulation

·
State aid in the culture and heritage
conservation sectors

Council Regulation No 994/98
authorises the Commission to adopt an exemption regulation for all categories of State aid to SMEs. Therefore,
on this basis the Commission could block-exempt State aid to SMEs in the
culture and heritage conservation sectors as defined in Article 167 TFEU under
the current Enabling Regulation. This would be of only limited use, though, as
the recipients of State aid, in particular in the cinema and audio-visual
sectors, are often large companies. These cases generate a substantial workload
for the Commission and Member States, even though they are often routine cases involving
limited aid amounts.

Once this category of aid is included in
the Enabling Regulation, the Commission will be able to adopt block exemptions,
for example for measures that meet the criteria of the revised Cinema
Communication or for measures for heritage conservation or culture promotion,
which usually have only limited effect on trade (e.g. numerous individual
notifications of restoration of classified buildings or monuments).

Council Regulation No
994/98 should be amended accordingly to cover these categories of State aid.

·
State aid in
relation to natural disasters

Regarding State aid to
compensate for the damage caused by natural disasters, Council Regulation No
994/98 would, as explained above, authorise the Commission to exempt aid
granted to SMEs, but does not allow aid to large companies. Block-exempting such natural disaster aid
would allow Member States to react rapidly when a natural disaster occurs in
order to compensate for the damage caused.

The Commission has
meanwhile acquired sufficient experience with this type of aid and is able to
define clear ex ante conditions of compatibility. If the aid is clearly defined, limited to
material damage directly caused by the
disaster and in an amount verified by an independent body, exemption from the notification
obligation would be justified. Council Regulation No 994/98 should be amended
accordingly to cover these categories of State aid, even for large companies.

·
State aid in relation to certain adverse
weather conditions in fisheries

Member States are also required
to notify to the Commission State aid measures to make good the damage caused
by certain adverse weather conditions in fisheries. The amounts granted in this
area are usually limited and clear compatibility conditions can be defined.
Regulation (EC) No 994/98 authorises the Commission to exempt such aid
from the notification requirement only if it is granted to SMEs. However, large
companies may also be affected by adverse weather conditions in fisheries.

The Commission has
meanwhile acquired sufficient experience with this type of aid and clear compatibility conditions can be defined
on this basis. Council Regulation No 994/98 should be amended
accordingly to cover this category of State aid.

·
State aid for
innovation

Council Regulation No
994/98 explicitly covers research and development, but not
innovation. Innovation has since become an EU objective as part of the Innovation
Union initiative. For example aid towards process and organisational innovation
in services and aid for innovation clusters may not be distortive as long as
targeted conditions are respected. Aid for product and technological
innovation, including support for demonstration projects and prototypes, is
instead already included in Article 30 of the GBER. Council Regulation No 994/98 should be amended accordingly
so that aid for innovation could be exempted in the future.

·
State aid for forestry and promotion of non-Annex-I
products in the food sector

According to Article 42 TFEU the
rules on competition apply to the production of and trade in agricultural
products only to the extent laid down by the European Parliament and the
Council. However, certain measures which are not covered by Article 42
TFEU and to which the general competition rules apply are contained in the
rural development programmes or favour the promotion and advertising of
non-Annex I products in the food sector and have been subject to specific
compatibility conditions under the State aid rules. This is in particular true
of forestry and aid for the promotion of non-Annex-I products in the food
sector. So far, this type of aid could only be block-exempted if it was limited
to SMEs. In view of the broad experience with this type of measures, allowing
the formulation of clear compatibility conditions, Council Regulation No 994/98 should be amended accordingly
so that these categories of State aid could be exempted in the future.

·
State aid for the conservation of marine
biological resources

According to
Article 7 of Council Regulation of 27 July 2006 (EC) No 1198/2006 on the
European Fisheries Fund[5],
Articles 107, 108 and 109 of the Treaty shall apply to aid granted by the
Member States to enterprises in the fisheries sector, except for payments made
by Member States pursuant to, and in conformity with, Regulation (EC) No
1198/2006. Additional State aid for the conservation of marine biological
resources usually has limited effects on intra-Union trade, contributes to the
EU objectives in the field of maritime and fisheries policy and does not create
serious distortions of competition. Furthermore, the amounts granted are
usually limited. Council Regulation No 994/98 should be amended accordingly so
that these categories of State aid could be exempted in the future.

·
State aid for amateur sports

While a considerable number of cases relating
to amateur sports does not even constitute aid, others usually have limited
effects on intra-Union trade and do not create serious distortions of
competition; furthermore, the amounts granted are typically limited. Council Regulation No 994/98 should be amended
accordingly so that these categories of State aid could be exempted in the
future.

·
Social aid to residents
of remote regions for transport

In
the area of transport, specific rules already exist, in particular Council
Regulation No 1370/2007 on road and rail passenger transport services of
general economic interest.

However, there are no specific rules regarding
aid for air and maritime transport. Within these sectors, the Commission has
acquired sufficient experience to formulate general compatibility criteria for
social aid to residents of remote regions for transport (mainly outermost
regions and islands/peninsulas assimilated as islands in the continental EU).
This aid tends to be relatively minor and does not create significant
distortions of competition. Council Regulation No 994/98 should be amended
accordingly so that this category of State aid could in future be exempted.

·
State aid for the
transport sector pursuant to Article 93 TFEU

Article 9 of Regulation
No 1370/2007 currently exempts from the prior notification requirement laid
down in Article 108(3) TFEU public service compensation for the operation of
public passenger transport services or for complying with tariff obligations
established through general rules paid in accordance with that Regulation.

Under the division of competences between
the Council and Commission established by the Lisbon Treaty, set out in Articles 108(4) and 109 TFEU, it is for the Council to determine the categories of aid exempt from
State aid notification, but for the Commission to establish the detailed rules
relating to such exemption. In order to bring the public service compensation
exemption into line with these provisions, this category should be brought
under the scope of Council Regulation No 994/98. Article 9 of Regulation No 1370/2007 should
cease to apply six months after the entry into force of a regulation adopted by
the Commission concerning this category of State aid. The
Commission currently expects such a block exemption would however reproduce the
substance of the current exemption, except to the extent that Regulation
1370/2007 is amended by planned legislative proposals relating to the rail
sector.

·
State aid for
certain broadband infrastructure

In recent years, the
Commission has acquired vast experience with aid for the broadband sector and has
devised guidelines. On that basis the Commission is able to formulate precise
compatibility criteria allowing block exemption with regard to aid for certain
types of broadband infrastructure under specific conditions. This applies to aid
covering basic broadband in
regions where there is no broadband infrastructure and where no such
infrastructure is likely to be developed in the near future (‘white’ areas),
and small individual aid measures covering very high-speed next-generation access
(‘NGA’) networks in ‘white NGA’ areas.

Moreover, aid for broadband-related civil
engineering works and passive broadband infrastructure could be block exempted.
Support for civil engineering works in many cases constitutes aid if it
concerns the installation of dedicated telecommunication infrastructure
(ducts). Passive broadband infrastructure covers the installation of both ducts
and dark fibres. It is pro-competitive since it can be used by different
operators (fixed, wireless, mobile), has no predetermined access or technology,
and is typically owned by public authorities who have no interest to
discriminate between operators. A block exemption for civil engineering works
and passive broadband infrastructure could speed up investments since (small) local
authorities often prefer to support this, rather than adopting broadband
schemes and having to comply with their more extensive State aid conditions.
The Commission has acquired sufficient case experience in the area of aid to
passive infrastructure. A block exemption may trigger increasing use in rural
areas where existing passive infrastructure is not adequate.

Council Regulation No
994/98 should be amended accordingly so that these categories of State aid
could in future be exempted.

Specifying
block-exempted aid categories

Article 1(2)(c)
specifies that for each category of block-exempted aid the thresholds should be
‘expressed either in terms of aid intensities in relation to a set of eligible costs or in terms of maximum aid
amounts’.

Given the development
of new forms of State support, such as financial engineering instruments or
different forms of risk capital, the Commission considers that the way these
thresholds are set should be updated to include the possibility of block exemption
for these new forms of State
support too. It should therefore be possible to define the thresholds not only in
terms of aid intensities or maximum aid amounts, but also in terms of maximum
level of State support, whether it qualifies as State aid in the meaning of Article
107(1) TFEU or not. Council Regulation No
994/98 should be amended accordingly.

Provisions concerning
transparency

Article 3(2) of
Regulation No 994/98 provides that, ‘On implementation of aid systems or individual aids granted outside any
system, which have been exempted pursuant to such regulations, Member
States shall forward to the Commission, with a view to publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities, summaries of the information regarding such systems of
aid or such individual aids as are not covered by exempted aid systems.’

In 1998, when
Regulation No 994/98 was adopted, publishing these summaries in the Official
Journal was the most appropriate means. However, as the number of official languages
has increased and the communication media have evolved, publishing the
summaries on the Commission’s website would increase transparency, shorten
publication deadlines and reduce the administrative workload, since it has
become equally easy for interested parties, particularly businesses, to consult
the Commission’s website or the Official
Journal.

The obligation to
publish the above summaries in the Official Journal should therefore be
replaced by the obligation to publish on the Commission’s website. Council
Regulation No 994/98 should be amended accordingly.

Provisions relating to the procedure for Commission adoption of
exemption regulations

Pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation No 994/98, the
Commission must consult the Advisory Committee on State Aid before
publishing any draft block exemption regulation. The Commission believes that to
enable interested parties to submit their comments and thus ensure greater
transparency, the draft regulations should be published at the same time as the
Advisory Committee is consulted.

Given the way new
electronic communications media have developed, the Commission believes that
the fastest and most effective way of publishing draft
regulations is on its website rather than in the Official Journal. This gives
interested parties a better opportunity to comment and reduces administrative
burden and delay.

The above-mentioned provisions in Article 8 of
Council Regulation No 994/98 should be amended accordingly.

2.           CONSISTENCY WITH THE UNION’S OTHER
POLICIES AND OBJECTIVES

This proposal is a key
element in State Aid Modernisation (SAM), an initiative launched by Commission
Communication on 8 May 2012[6],
setting out an ambitious State aid reform programme. It should contribute to the
overall objectives of the Union, in particular the objective of focusing State
aid enforcement on cases having the biggest impact on the internal market and
to the EU 2020 strategy to foster growth in a strengthened, dynamic and
competitive internal market.

To achieve the
objectives of this strategy, the Commission proposes to increase the number of
aid categories that may be exempted from the notification requirement and thus cut red tape and reduce the number of aid measures that have to be notified.
The categories concerned and the envisaged block exemptions would lay down compatibility
conditions which target the types of aid that genuinely contribute to achieving
the EU 2020 objectives.

3.           LEGAL ASPECTS

·
Legal basis

The legal basis of this
proposal is Article 109 TFEU, which allows the Council to make any appropriate
regulations, in particular to determine the conditions in which Article 108(3) TFEU shall apply, and
the categories of aid exempted from that procedure. The Council must
decide by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission and after
consulting the European Parliament.

·
Subsidiarity and proportionality

The proposal falls
under the exclusive competence of the Union. The subsidiarity principle does
not therefore apply.

The initiative does not
go beyond what is necessary to achieve its objective, and therefore complies
with the proportionality principle.

·
Choice of instruments

Proposed instrument: regulation.

A regulation is the
only appropriate legal instrument for amending Regulation (EC) No 994/98.

4.           BUDGETARY IMPLICATION

The
proposal has no negative implications for the Union budget.

2012/344 (NLE)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Council Regulation (EC) No 994/98 of 7 May 1998 on the
application of Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty establishing the European
Community to certain categories of horizontal State aid and Regulation (EC) No
1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on
public passenger transport services by rail and by road

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 109
thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,[7]

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic
and Social Committee,[8]

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the
Regions,[9]

Whereas:

(1)
Council Regulation (EC) No
994/98 of 7 May 1998 on the application of Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty
establishing the European Community to certain categories of horizontal State aid,[10]
empowers the Commission to declare by means of regulations that certain specified
categories of aid are compatible with the internal market and are exempted from
the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty.

(2)
Regulation
(EC) No 994/98 empowers the Commission to declare, in accordance with Article
107 of the Treaty, that under certain conditions aid to small and medium-sized
enterprises (‘SMEs’), aid in favour of research and development, aid in favour
of environmental protection, employment and training aid, and aid that complies
with the map approved by the Commission for each Member State for the grant of
regional aid is compatible with the internal market and not subject to the
notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty.

(3)
Regulation (EC) No 994/98 authorises
the Commission to exempt aid for research and
development, but not for innovation. Innovation has since become a Union policy
priority in the context of ‘Innovation Union’, one of the Europe 2020 flagship
initiatives. Moreover, many aid measures for innovation are relatively small
and create no significant distortions of competition.

(4)
In the culture and heritage
conservation sector, Member States are currently required to notify to the Commission
all draft State aid measures. Regulation (EC) No 994/98 authorises the
Commission to exempt aid granted to SMEs, but such an exemption would in the
cultural sector be of limited use as recipients are often large companies. However,
small culture and heritage conservation projects, even if carried out by larger
companies, do not typically give rise to any significant distortion, and recent cases have shown that such aid has limited effects on
trade.

(5)
Member States are also required
to notify to the Commission State aid measures to make good the damage caused
by natural disasters. The amounts granted in this area are usually limited and
clear compatibility conditions can be defined. Regulation (EC) No 994/98
authorises the Commission to exempt such aid from the notification requirement
only if it is granted to SMEs. However, large companies may also be affected by
natural disasters. In the Commission’s experience, such aid does not give rise
to any significant distortion and clear
compatibility conditions can be defined on the basis of the experience acquired.

(6)
Member States are also required
to notify to the Commission State aid measures to make good the damage caused
by certain adverse weather conditions in fisheries. The amounts granted in this
area are usually limited and clear compatibility conditions can be defined.
Regulation (EC) No 994/98 authorises the Commission to exempt such aid from the
notification requirement only if it is granted to SMEs. However, large
companies may also be affected by adverse weather conditions in fisheries. In
the Commission’s experience, such aid does not give rise to any significant distortion and clear compatibility
conditions can be defined on the basis of the experience acquired.

(7)
In accordance with Article 42 of the Treaty, State
aid rules do not apply under certain conditions to certain aid measures in
favour of agriculture products listed in Annex I of the Treaty. However,
Article 42 does not apply to forestry and non-Annex I products. Therefore, at present, by virtue of Regulation (EC) No 994/98, aid to forestry and to non-Annex I products in
the food sector can only be exempted if it is limited to SMEs. The Commission
should be able to exempt certain types of aid in favour of forestry contained
in the rural development programmes and also those in favour of promotion and
advertising of non-Annex I products in the food sector where, according to the
Commission's experience, the distortions of competition are limited and clear
compatibility conditions can be defined.

(8)
According to Article 7 of Council Regulation of
27 July 2006 (EC) No 1198/2006 on the European Fisheries Fund,[11] Articles 107, 108 and 109 of
the Treaty shall apply to aid granted by the Member States to enterprises in
the fisheries sector, except for payments made by Member States pursuant to,
and in conformity with, Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006. Additional State aid
for the conservation of marine biological resources usually has limited effects
on intra-Union trade, contributes to the EU objectives in the field of maritime
and fisheries policy and does not create serious distortions of competition.
The amounts granted are usually limited and clear compatibility conditions can be
defined.

(9)
In the amateur sports
sector, public support measures, to the extent that they constitute State aid, usually have limited effects on intra-Union trade and do not create
serious distortions of competition. The amounts granted are typically also limited. Clear compatibility
conditions can be defined on the basis of the experience acquired so as
to ensure that aid to amateur sports does not
give rise to any significant distortion.

(10)
In relation to aid concerning air and maritime
transport, in the Commission’s experience, aid having a social character to
residents of remote regions for transport, provided that it is granted without
discrimination related to the identity of the carrier, does not give rise to
any significant distortion and clear
compatibility conditions can be defined.

(11)
In relation to aid
for transport by rail, road and inland waterways, Article 93 of the Treaty states
that aid meeting the needs of coordination of transport or representing
reimbursement for the discharge of certain obligations inherent in the concept
of a public service shall be compatible with the Treaties. Article 9 of Regulation
(EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of
23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by
road[12]
currently exempts from the prior notification requirement laid down in Article
108(3) of the Treaty public service compensations for
the operation of public passenger transport services or for complying with
tariff obligations that are established through general rules and paid in
accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007. In order to harmonize the
approach to block exemption regulations in the field of State aid, and in
accordance with the procedures foreseen in Articles 108(4) and 109 of the
Treaty, aid for the coordination
of transport or reimbursement for the discharge of certain obligations inherent
in the concept of a public service as
referred to in Article 93 of the Treaty should be brought under the scope of Regulation (EC) No 994/98. Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 should be therefore be deleted
with effect from six months after the entry into force of a regulation adopted by
the Commission concerning this category of State aid.

(12)
In the field of aid to broadband, the Commission
has in recent years acquired vast experience and has devised guidelines[13] In the Commission’s
experience, aid for certain types of broadband infrastructure does not give
rise to any significant distortion and
could benefit from a group exemption, provided that certain compatibility
conditions are met. This is true of aid covering the provision of basic
broadband in regions where there is no broadband infrastructure and where none
is likely to be developed in the near future ("white" areas) as well
as aid for small individual aid measures covering very high-speed next-generation
access ("NGA") networks in areas where there is no NGA infrastructure
and where no such infrastructure is likely to be developed in the near future. It
is also true of aid to broadband-related civil engineering works and passive
broadband infrastructure, where the Commission has acquired substantial case
experience and clear compatibility
conditions can be defined.

(13)
Therefore, the scope of Regulation (EC) No
994/98 should be extended to include such categories of aid.

(14)
Regulation (EC) No 994/98 requires the
thresholds for each category of aid in respect of which the Commission adopts a
block exemption regulation to be expressed either in terms of aid intensities
in relation to a set of eligible costs or in terms of maximum aid amounts. This
condition makes it difficult to block-exempt certain types of measures
involving State support which, because of the specific way in which they are
designed, cannot be expressed in terms of aid intensities or maximum amounts, e.g.
financial engineering instruments or certain forms of measures aimed to promote
risk capital investments. This is in particular due to the fact that such
complex measures may involve aid at different levels (direct beneficiaries,
intermediate beneficiaries, indirect beneficiaries). Given the increasing
importance of such measures and their contribution to Union objectives, there
should be more flexibility to make it possible to exempt such measures. It
should therefore be possible to define the thresholds in terms of the maximum
level of State support, whether it qualifies as State aid or not.

(15)
Regulation (EC) No 994/98 requires Member States
to provide summaries of information concerning aid implemented by them which is
covered by an exemption regulation. The publication of those summaries is
necessary to ensure the transparency of the measures adopted by the Member
States. Their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union was
the most effective means for ensuring transparency at the time Regulation (EC)
No 994/98 was adopted. However, with the growth of electronic communication
media, publication of the summaries on the Commission website is an equally
fast and more effective method, with added transparency for the benefit of
interested parties. Therefore, instead of being published in the Official Journal,
those summaries should be published on the Commissions website.

(16)
Similarly, draft regulations and other documents
to be examined by the Advisory Committee on State Aid in accordance with
Regulation (EC) No 994/98 should be published on the Commissions website,
rather than in the Official Journal, to ensure greater transparency and
to reduce the administrative burden and the delay in publication.

(17)
The consultation procedure established in
Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 994/98 provides that the Advisory Committee on
State Aid be consulted before publication of a draft regulation. However, in
the interest of greater transparency, the draft regulation should be published
on the internet at the same time as the Commission consults the Advisory
Committee for the first time.

(18)
Regulation (EC) No 994/98 should therefore be
amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 994/98 is amended as follows:

(1)
Article l is amended as
follows:

(a)
in paragraph 1, point (a) is replaced by the following:

"(a) aid in favour of:

(i)      small and medium-sized enterprises;

(ii)      research, development and innovation;

(iii)     environmental protection;

(iv)     employment and training;

(v)     culture and heritage conservation;

(vi)     making good the damage caused by natural
disasters;

(vii)    making good the damage caused by certain
adverse weather conditions in fisheries;

(viii)   forestry and
promotion of non-Annex I products in the food sector;

(ix)     conservation
of marine biological resources;

(x)     amateur sports;

(xi)     residents of
remote regions for transport, when this aid has a social character and is
granted without discrimination related to the identity of the carrier;

(xii)    coordination
of transport or reimbursement for the discharge of certain obligations inherent
in the concept of a public service pursuant to Article 93 of the Treaty;

(xiii)   basic
broadband infrastructure or small individual infrastructure measures covering
next-generation access networks in areas where there is
either no such infrastructure or where no such infrastructure is likely to be
developed in the near future; and broadband-related civil engineering works and passive broadband
infrastructure."

(b)
paragraph 2 point (c) is replaced by the
following:

"(c) thresholds expressed in terms of aid
intensities in relation to a set of eligible costs or in terms of maximum aid
amounts or maximum level of State support;"

(2)
Article 3(2) is replaced
by the following:

"On implementation of aid systems or
individual aids granted outside any system, which have been exempted pursuant
to such regulations, Member States shall forward to the Commission, with a view
to publication on the Commission's website, summaries of the information
regarding such systems of aid or such individual aids as are not covered by
exempted aid systems."

(3)
Article 8 is amended as follows:

(a)
in paragraph 1, point(a) is replaced by the
following:

"(a) at the same
time as publishing any draft Regulation in accordance with Article 6;"

(b)
in paragraph 2, the second
sentence, is replaced by the following:

"The drafts and documents to be examined
shall be annexed to the notification and may be published on the Commission website."

Article 2

Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 is amended as follows:

Article 9 shall be deleted with effect from six
months after the entry into force of a Commission regulation concerning the
category of State aid referred to in Article 1 (a) xii of Council Regulation
(EC) No 994/98.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on
the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For
the Council

The
President

[1]               OJ L 142, 14.5.1998, p. 1.

[2]               Exemption
is possible in this case under Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 994/98.

[3]               COM(2012) 209 final.

[4]               Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August
2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in
application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty (General Block Exemption
Regulation), OJ L 214, 9.8.2008, p. 3.

[5]               OJ L 223, 15.8.2006, p. 1.

[6]               COM(2012) 209 final.

[7]               OJ C [...], [...], p.

[8]               OJ C [...], [...], p.

[9]               OJ C [...], [...], p.

[10]             OJ L 142, 14.5.1998, p.1

[11]             OJ L 223, 15.8.2006, p. 1.

[12]             OJ L 315, 3.12.2007, p.1.

[13]             Community Guidelines for the application of State aid
rules in relation to rapid deployment of broadband networks, OJ C 235,
30.9.2009, p. 7.