**Important legal notice**

*|*

# 12005SPN07/04/A

**Protocol concerning the conditions and arrangements for admission of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union - Annex VII:List referred to in Article 20 of the Protocol: transitional measures, Romania - 4.Competition policy - A.Fiscal aid***Official Journal L 157 , 21/06/2005 P. 0143 - 0145*

A. FISCAL AID

1. Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, Part III, Title III, Chapter I, Section 5, Rules on competition

(a) Notwithstanding Articles III-167 and III-168 of the Constitution for undertakings which were given the permanent investor certificate in a Deprived Area before 1 July 2003, Romania may continue granting corporate tax exemptions on the basis of Government Emergency Ordinance No 24/1998 on Deprived Areas, as amended:

- for 3 Deprived Areas (Brad, Valea Jiului, Bălan) up to and including 31 December 2008,

- for 22 Deprived Areas (Comăneşti, Bucovina, Altân Tepe, Filipeşti, Ceptura, Albeni, Schela, Motru Rovinari, Rusca Montană, Bocşa, Moldova Nouă-Anina, Baraolt, Apuseni, Ştei-Nucet, Borod Şuncuiuş-Dobreşti-Vadu Crişului, Popeşti-Derna-Aleşd, Ip, Hida-Surduc- Jibou-Bălan, Şărmăşag-Chiejd-Bobota, Baia Mare, Borşa Vişeu, Rodna) up to and including 31 December 2009,

- for 3 Deprived Areas (Cugir, Zimnicea, Copşa Mică) up to and including 31 December 2010;

under the following conditions:

- the State aid is granted for regional investments:

- the net intensity of such regional aid shall not exceed the rate of 50 % Net Grant Equivalent. This ceiling may be raised for small and medium-sized enterprises by 15 percentage points, provided that the total net aid intensity does not exceed 75 %,

- if the undertaking is active in the motor vehicle sector [4], the total aid shall not exceed a maximum of 30 % of the eligible investment costs,

- the period for calculating the aid to be included under the abovementioned ceilings shall start on 2 January 2003; all aid claimed and received on the basis of profits that precede this date shall be excluded from the calculation,

- for the purpose of calculating the total aid, account shall be taken of all aid granted to the beneficiary in relation to eligible costs, including aid granted under other schemes and irrespective of whether the aid is granted by local, regional, national or Community sources,

- eligible costs shall be defined on the basis of the Guidelines on national regional aid [5],

- the eligible costs that may be taken into account shall be those incurred between 2 October 1998 (i.e. the date of entry into force of the scheme under Government Emergency Ordinance No 24/1998 on Deprived Areas) and 15 September 2004.

(b) Romania shall supply to the Commission:

- two months after the date of accession, information on the fulfilment of the conditions set out above,

- by the end of December 2010, information on the eligible investment costs effectively incurred by the beneficiaries under Government Emergency Ordinance No 24/1998 on Deprived Areas, as amended and on the total aid amounts received by the beneficiaries, and

- half-yearly reports on monitoring of aid given to the beneficiaries in the motor vehicle sector.

2. Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, Part III, Title III, Chapter I, Section 5, Rules on competition

(a) Notwithstanding Articles III-167 and III-168 of the Constitution for undertakings which signed commercial contracts with the Free Trade Areas Administrations before 1 July 2002, Romania may continue granting royalty exemptions on the basis of Law No 84/1992 on Free Trade Areas, as amended, until 31 December 2011 under the following conditions:

- the State aid is granted for regional investments:

- the net intensity of such regional aid shall not exceed the rate of 50 % Net Grant Equivalent. This ceiling may be raised for small and medium-sized enterprises by 15 percentage points, provided that the total net aid intensity does not exceed 75 %,

- if the undertaking is active in the motor vehicle sector [6], the total aid shall not exceed a maximum of 30 % of the eligible investment costs,

- the period for calculating the aid to be included under the abovementioned ceilings shall start on 2 January 2003; all aid claimed and received on the basis of profits that precede this date shall be excluded from the calculation,

- for the purpose of calculating the total aid, account shall be taken of all aid granted to the beneficiary in relation to eligible costs, including aid granted under other schemes and irrespective of whether the aid is granted by local, regional, national or Community sources,

- eligible costs shall be defined on the basis of the Guidelines on national regional aid [7],

- the eligible costs that may be taken into account shall be those incurred between 30 July 1992 (i.e. the date of entry into force of the scheme under Law No 84/1992 on Free Trade Areas) and 1 November 2004.

(b) Romania shall supply to the Commission:

- two months after the date of accession, information on the fulfilment of the conditions set out above,

- by the end of December 2011, information on the eligible investment costs effectively incurred by the beneficiaries under Law No 84/1992 on Free Trade Areas, as amended and on the total aid amounts received by the beneficiaries, and

- half-yearly reports on monitoring of aid given to the beneficiaries in the motor vehicle sector.

[4] Within the meaning of Annex C of Commission Communication - Multisectoral framework on regional aid for large investment projects (OJ C 70, 19.3.2002, p. 8). Communication as last amended and published in OJ C 263, 1.11.2003, p. 3.

[5] OJ C 74, 10.3.1998, p. 9. Guidelines as last amended and published in OJ C 258, 9.9.2000, p. 5.

[6] Within the meaning of Annex C of Commission Communication - Multisectoral framework on regional aid for large investment projects (OJ C 70, 19.3.2002, p. 8). Communication as last amended and published in OJ C 263, 1.11.2003, p. 3.

[7] OJ C 74, 10.3.1998, p. 9. Guidelines as last amended and published in OJ C 258, 9.9.2000, p. 5.

--------------------------------------------------