2001R0068 — EN — 19.03.2004 — 001.001 — 1
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►B COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No68/2001
of12January2001
ontheapplicationofArticles87and88oftheECTreatytotrainingaid
(OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 20)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1CommissionRegulation(EC) No 363/2004 of 25 February 2004 L 63 20 28.2.2004
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COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No68/2001
of12January2001
on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to
trainingaid
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to 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 (1),
and in particular point (a)(iv) of Article 1(1) thereof,
Having published a draft of this Regulation (2),
Having consulted the Advisory Committee on State Aid,Whereas:
(1)Regulation(EC) No 994/98 empowers the Commissionto
declare, in accordance with Article 87 of the Treaty, that under
certain conditions training aid is compatible with the common
market and not subject to the notification requirement of Article88(3) of the Treaty.
(2)The Commissionhas applied Articles 87 an d 88 of the Treaty to
training aid in numerous decisions and has also stated its policy,
most recently in the Community framework on training aid (3).
In the light of the Commission's considerable experience inapplying those Articles to training aid, it is appropriate, with aview to ensuring efficient supervision and simplifying adminis-tration without weakening Commission monitoring, that the
Commissionshould make use of the powers con ferred by Regu-
lation(EC) No 994/98.
(3)In order to establish a transparent and coherent policy for all
sectors, it is appropriate that the scope of this Regulationbe as
broad as possible and include the agricultural sector, fisheriesand aquaculture.
(4)This Regulationis without prejudice to the possibility for
Member States to notify training aid. Such notifications will be
assessed by the Commissioninparticular inthe light of thecriteria set out inthis Regulation , or inaccordan ce with theapplicable Community guidelines and frameworks, if such guide-lines and frameworks exist. This is currently the case foractivities relating to the production, processing and marketing
of products listed in Annex I to the Treaty and for the sector of
maritime transport. The framework on training aid should beabolished from the date of entry into force of this Regulation,since its contents are replaced by this Regulation.
(5)For reasons of transparency, it should be recalled that in accor-dance with the second subparagraph of Article 51(1), of CouncilRegulation(EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 onsupport forrural development from the European Agricultural Guidance andGuarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain
Regulations (
4), Articles 87 to 89 of the Treaty do not apply to
financial contributions provided by the Member States formeasures subject to Community support for training accordingto Article 9 of the said Regulation.
(6)For reasons of transparency it should be underlined that thisRegulation should only apply to training measures which consti-tute State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the Treaty.2001R0068 — EN — 19.03.2004 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ L 142, 14.5.1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 89, 28.3.2000, p. 8.
(3) OJ C 343, 11.11.1998, p. 10.
(4) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80.
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Many training measures are not caught by that Article, but
constitute general measures because they are open to all enter-prises in all sectors without discrimination and without
discretionary power for the authorities applying the measure,
e.g. general tax incentive schemes, such as automatic tax credits,open to all firms investing in employee training. Other trainingmeasures do not fall within the scope of Article 87(1) of theTreaty because they directly benefit people everywhere and do
not grant an advantage to certain enterprises or sectors. Exam-
ples are: schooling and initial training (such as apprenticeshipsand day-release schemes); the training or re-training of unem-ployed people, including traineeships in enterprises; measuresdirectly targeted at workers or evenat certaincategories ofworkers, affording them the opportunity of receiving training
unconnected with the firm or industry in which they work (for
example the ‘learning account’). On the other hand, it shouldbe recalled that contributions from sectoral funds, if they aremade compulsory by the State, are not considered as privateresources, but constitute State resources within the meaning of
Article 87(1) of the Treaty.
(7)This Regulationshould exempt an y aid that meets all the rele-
vant requirements of this Regulation, and any aid scheme,provided that any aid that could be granted under such scheme
meets all the relevant requirements of this Regulation. With a
view to ensuring efficient supervision and simplifying adminis-tration without weakening Commission monitoring, aid schemesand individual grants, outside any aid scheme, should contain anexpress reference to this Regulation.
(8)In order to eliminate differences that might give rise to distor-tions of competition, in order to facilitate coordination betweendifferent Community and national initiatives concerning smalland medium-sized enterprises, and for reasons of administrativeclarity and legal certainty, the definition of ‘small and medium-
sized enterprises’ used in this Regulation should be that laid
downinCommissionRecommen dation96/280/EC of 3 April1996 concerning the definition of small and medium-sized enter-prises(
1).
(9)In order to determine whether or not aid is compatible with the
common market pursuant to this Regulation, it is necessary to
take into consideration the aid intensity and thus the aid amountexpressed as a grant equivalent. Calculation of the grant equiva-lent of aid payable in several instalments, and calculation of aidin the form of a soft loan, require the use of market interest rates
prevailing at the time of grant. With a view to a uniform, trans-
parent and simple application of the State aid rules, the marketrates for the purposes of this Regulationshould be deemed tobe the reference rates, provided that, in the case of a soft loan,the loan is backed by normal security and does not involveabnormal risk. The reference rates should be those which are
periodically fixed by the Commissiononthe basis of objective
criteria and published in the Official Journal of the European
Communities and on the Internet.
(10)Training usually has positive external effects for society as a
whole since it increases the pool of skilled workers from which
other firms may draw, improves the competitiveness of Commu-nity industry and plays an important role in employmentstrategy. In view of the fact that enterprises in the Communitygenerally underinvest in the training of their workers, State aidmight help to correct this market imperfectionan d therefore can
be considered under certain conditions to be compatible with the
common market and therefore exempted from prior notification.
(11)In order to ensure that State aid is limited to the minimumnecessary to obtain the Community objective which market2001R0068 — EN — 19.03.2004 — 001.001 — 3
(1) OJ L 107, 30.4.1996, p. 4.
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forces alone would not make possible, the permissible intensities
of exempted aid should be modulated according to the type oftraining provided, the size of the enterprise and its geographical
location.
(12)General training provides transferable qualifications and substan-tially improves the employability of the trained worker. Aid for
this purpose has less distortive effects oncompetition , so thathigher intensities of aid can be considered compatible with thecommon market and exempted from prior notification. Specifictraining, on the other hand, which mainly benefits the enterprise,involves a greater risk of distortion of competition so that the
intensity of aid which can be considered compatible and
exempted from prior notification should be much lower.
(13)In view of the handicaps with which SMEs are confronted andthe higher relative costs that they have to bear whenthey in vestin the training of their workers, the intensities of aid exemptedby this Regulationshould be in creased for SMEs.
(14)In assisted areas under Article 87(3)(a) and (c) of the Treaty,training has a relatively greater external impact, since there is asubstantial underinvestment in training in those regions and ahigher unemployment rate. Consequently, the intensities of aid
exempted by this Regulationshould be in creased for those areas.
(15)The characteristics of training in the maritime transport sector
justify a specific approach for that sector.
(16)It is appropriate that large amounts of aid remain subject to anindividual assessment by the Commission before they are put
into effect. Accordingly, aid amounts exceeding a fixed amount,
which should be set at EUR 1 000000, are excluded from theexemptionprovided for inthis Regulationan d remainsubject tothe requirements of Article 88(3) of the Treaty.
(17)This Regulationshould n ot exempt aid cumulated with otherState aid, including aid granted by national, regional and localauthorities, or with Community assistance, in relation to thesame eligible costs whensuch cumulationexceeds the thresholds
fixed inthis Regulation .
(18)In order to ensure transparency and effective monitoring inaccordance with Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 994/98, it is
appropriate to establish a standard format in which MemberStates should provide the Commissionwith summary in forma-tion whenever, in pursuance of this Regulation, an aid schemeis implemented or an individual aid outside such schemes isgranted, with a view to publication in the Official Journal of
the European Communities . For the same reasons, it is appro-
priate to establish rules concerning the records that MemberStates should keep regarding the aid exempted by this Regula-tion. For the purposes of the annual reports to be submitted tothe Commissionby Member States, it is appropriate for theCommission to establish its specific requirements, including, in
view of the wide availability of the necessary technology, infor-
mationincomputerised form.
(19)Having regard to the Commission's experience and in particularthe frequency with which it is generally necessary to revise Stateaid policy, it is appropriate to limit the period of applicationofthis Regulation. Should this Regulation expire without beingextended, aid schemes already exempted by this Regulationshould continue to be exempted for six months,2001R0068 — EN — 19.03.2004 — 001.001 — 4
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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Scope
This Regulation applies to training aid in all sectors, including the
activities relating to the production, processing and marketing ofproducts listed in Annex I of the Treaty, with the exception of aid
falling within the scope of Council Regulation (EC) No 1407/2002 (
1).
Article 2
Definitions
For the purpose of this Regulation:
(a) ‘aid’ shall mean any measure fulfilling all the criteria laid down in
Article 87(1) of the Treaty;
(b) ‘small and medium-sized enterprises’ shall mean enterprises as
defined in Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 70/2001(2);
(c) ‘large enterprises’ shall mean enterprises not coming under the
definition of small and medium-sized enterprises;
(d) ‘specific training’ shall mean training involving tuition directly and
principally applicable to the employee's present or future positionin the assisted firm and providing qualifications which are not or
only to a limited extent transferable to other firms or fields of
work;
(e) ‘general training’ shall mean training involving tuition which is not
applicable only or principally to the employee's present or future
positioninthe assisted firm, but which provides qualification s thatare largely transferable to other firms or fields of work and therebysubstantially improve the employability of the employee. Trainingshall be considered ‘general’ if, for example,
— it is jointly organised by different independent enterprises, or if
employees of different enterprises may avail themselves of thetraining,
— it is recognised, certified or validated by public authorities or
bodies or by other bodies or institutions on which a Member
State or the Community has conferred the necessary powers.
(f) ‘aid intensity’ shall mean the gross aid amount expressed as a
percentage of the project's eligible costs. All figures used shall be
taken before any deduction for direct taxation. Where aid is
awarded in a form other than a grant, the aid amount shall be thegrant equivalent of the aid. Aid payable in several instalments shallbe discounted to its value at the time of granting. The interest rateto be used for discounting purposes and for calculating the aid
amount in a soft loan shall be the reference rate applicable at the
time of grant;
(g) ‘disadvantaged worker’ shall mean:
— any young person under 25 who has not previously obtained his
first regular paid employment,
— any person with serious disabilities which result from physical,
mental or psychological impairments and yet capable of
entering the labour market,
— any migrant worker who moves or has moved within the
Community or becomes resident in the Community to take upwork and who needs professional and/or language training,2001R0068 — EN — 19.03.2004 — 001.001 — 5
(1) OJ L 205, 2.8.2002, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 10, 13.1.2002, p. 33.▼M1
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— any person wishing to re-enter working life after a break of at
least three years, and particularly any person who gave up workon account of the difficulty of reconciling his working life and
family life, for the first six months after recruitment,
— any person older than 45 who has not attained an upper
secondary educational qualification or its equivalent,
— any long-term unemployed person, i.e. any person who was
without work for 12 consecutive months, for the first sixmonths after recruitment.
Article 3
Conditionsforexemption
1. Individual aid outside any scheme, fulfilling all the conditions of
this Regulation, shall be compatible with the common market within
the meaning of Article 87(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempt fromthe notification requirement of Article 88(3) of the Treaty providedthat it contains an express reference to this Regulation, by citing itstitle and publication reference in the Official Journal of the European
Communities .
2. Aid schemes fulfilling all the conditions of this Regulation shall
be compatible with the common market within the meaning of Article
87(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempt from the notification require-
ment of Article 88(3) of the Treaty provided that:
(a) any aid that could be awarded under such scheme fulfils all the
conditions of this Regulation;
(b) the scheme contains an express reference to this Regulation, by
citing its title and publication reference in the Official Journal of
the European Communities .
3. Aid granted under the schemes referred to in paragraph 2 shall be
compatible with the common market within the meaning of Article87(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempt from the notification require-
ment of Article 88(3) of the Treaty provided that the aid granted
directly fulfils all the conditions of this Regulation.
Article 4
Exemptedtrainingaid
1. Aid schemes and individual aid for training must fulfil the condi-
tions laid down in paragraphs 2 to 7.
2. Where the aid is granted for specific training, its intensity shall
not exceed 25 % for large enterprises and 35 % for small andmedium-sized enterprises.
These intensities shall be increased by five percentage points for enter-
prises in areas which qualify for regional aid pursuant to Article87(3)(c) of the Treaty and by 10 percentage points for enterprises inareas which qualify for regional aid pursuant to Article 87(3)(a) of the
Treaty.
3. Where the aid is granted for general training, its intensity shall
not exceed 50 % for large enterprises and 70 % for small and
medium-sized enterprises.
These intensities shall be increased by five percentage points for enter-
prises in areas which qualify for regional aid pursuant to Article
87(3)(c) of the Treaty and by 10 percentage points for enterprises inareas which qualify for regional aid pursuant to Article 87(3)(a) of theTreaty.
4. The maximum intensities referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall
be increased by 10 percentage points if the training is given to disad-vantaged workers.
5. In cases where the aid project involves both specific and general
training components which cannot be separated for the calculation ofthe aid intensity, and in cases where the specific or general character2001R0068 — EN — 19.03.2004 — 001.001 — 6
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of the training aid project cannot be established, the intensities applic-
able to specific training pursuant to paragraph 2 shall apply.
6. Where the aid is granted in the maritime transport sector, it may
reach an intensity of 100 %, whether the training project concernsspecific or general training, provided that the following conditions aremet:
(a) the trainee shall not be an active member of the crew but shall be
supernumerary on board, and
(b) the training shall be carried out on board ships entered on Commu-
nity registers.
7. The eligible costs of a training aid project shall be:
(a) trainers' personnel costs,
(b) trainers' and trainees' travel expenses,
(c) other current expenses such as materials and supplies,
(d) depreciation of tools and equipment, to the extent that they are
used exclusively for the training project,
(e) cost of guidance and counselling services with regard to the
training project,
(f) trainees' personnel costs up to the amount of the total of the other
eligible costs referred to in (a) to (e). Only the hours during which
the trainees actually participate in the training, after deduction of
any productive hours or of their equivalent, may be taken intoaccount.
The eligible costs shall be supported by documentary evidence, which
shall be transparent and itemised.
Article 5
Largeindividualaidgrants
The exemption shall not apply if the amount of aid granted to one
enterprise for a single training project exceeds EUR 1 000000.
Article 6
Cumulation
1. The aid ceilings fixed in Articles 4 and 5 shall apply regardless of
whether the support for the project is financed entirely from Stateresources or is partly financed by the Community.
2. Aid exempted by this Regulation shall not be cumulated with any
other State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the Treaty, orwith other Community funding, in relation to the same eligible costs,if such cumulation would result in an aid intensity exceeding that fixedby this Regulation.
Article 7
Transparencyandmonitoring
1. On implementation of an aid scheme, or grant of individual aid
outside any scheme, exempted by this Regulation, Member States shall,within 20 working days, forward to the Commission, with a view to itspublicationinthe Official Journal of the European Communities ,a
summary of the information regarding such aid scheme or individual
aid according to the model laid down in Annex II.
2. Member States shall maintain detailed records regarding the aid
schemes exempted by this Regulation, the individual aid granted under
those schemes, and the individual aid exempted by this Regulation that
is granted outside any existing aid scheme. Such records shall containall information necessary to establish that the conditions for exemption,as laid downinthis Regulation , are fulfilled. Member States shall keepa record regarding an individual aid for 10 years from the date onwhich it was granted, and regarding an aid scheme, for 10 years from2001R0068 — EN — 19.03.2004 — 001.001 — 7
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the date on which the last individual aid was granted under such
scheme. On written request, the Member State concerned shall providethe Commission, within a period of 20 working days or such longer
period as may be fixed inthe request, with all the in formationwhich
the Commission considers necessary to assess whether the conditionsof this Regulationhave beencomplied with.
3. Member States shall compile an annual report on the application
of this Regulation in accordance with the implementing provisions
concerning the form and content of annual reports which are laid
down pursuant to Article 27 of Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 (
1).
Until such provisions enter into force, Member States shall compile an
annual report on the application of this Regulation in respect of thewhole or part of each calendar year during which this Regulation
applies, inthe form laid downinAn n ex III, also incomputerised
form. Member States shall provide the Commissionwith such reportno later than three months after the expiry of the period to which thereport relates.
Article 7a
Transitionalprovisions
Aid schemes implemented before the date of entry into force of this
Regulation, and aid granted under such schemes, in the absence of aCommission authorisation and in breach of the notification requirementof Article 88(3) of the Treaty, shall be compatible with the common
market within the meaning of Article 87(3) of the Treaty and shall be
exempt if they fulfil the conditions laid down in Article 3(2)(a) andArticle 3(3) of this Regulation.
Individual aid outside any scheme granted before the date of entry into
force of this Regulation, in the absence of a Commission authorisationand in breach of the notification requirement of Article 88(3) of the
Treaty, shall be compatible with the commonmarket withinthe
meaning of Article 87(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempt if it fulfilsall the conditions of this Regulation, except the requirement in Article3(1) that express reference be made to this Regulation.
Any aid which does not fulfil these conditions shall be assessed by the
Commission in accordance with the relevant frameworks, guidelines,communications and notices.
Article 8
Entryintoforce andperiodofvalidity
1. This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publicationinthe Official Journal of the European Communities .
It shall remaininforce un til 31 December 2006.2. At the end of the period of validity of this Regulation, aid
schemes exempted under this Regulation shall remain exempted duringan adjustment period of six months.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
inall Member States.2001R0068 — EN — 19.03.2004 — 001.001 — 8
(1) OJ L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 1.▼M1
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ANNEX II
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ANNEX III
Formoftheperiodic reporttobeprovidedtotheCommission
Annual reporting format on aid schemes exempted under a group exemp-
tion regulation adopted pursuant to Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC)
No994/98
Member States are required to use the format below for their reporting obliga-
tions to the Commission under group exemption regulations adopted on the
basis of Council Regulation (EC) No 994/98.
The reports should also be provided incomputerised form.
Information required for all aid schemes exempted under group exemption regu-
lations adopted pursuant to Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 994/98
1. Title of aid scheme
2. Commissionexemptionregulationapplicable3. Expenditure
Separate figures have to be provided for each aid instrument within a scheme
or individual aid (e.g. grant, soft loans, etc). The figures have to be expressed
in euro or, if applicable, national currency. In the case of tax expenditure,
annual tax losses have to be reported. If precise figures are not available,
such losses may be estimated.
These expenditure figures should be provided on the following basis:
for the year under review indicate separately for each aid instrument within
the scheme (e.g. grant, soft loan, guarantee, etc.):
3.1. amounts committed, (estimated) tax losses or other revenue forgone,
data on guarantees, etc. for new assisted projects. In the case of guar-antee schemes, the total amount of new guarantees handed out should
be provided;
3.2. actual payments, (estimated) tax losses or other revenue forgone, data on
guarantees, etc. for new and current projects. In the case of guarantee
schemes, the following should be provided: total amount of outstanding
guarantees, premium income, recoveries, indemnities paid out, operating
result of the scheme under the year under review;
3.3. number of new assisted projects;
3.4. estimated overall number of jobs created or maintained by new projects
(if appropriate);
3.5. estimated overall amount of investment aided by new projects;
3.6. regional breakdown of amounts under point 3.1 either by regions
defined at NUTS(
1) level 2 or below or by Article 87(3)(a) regions,
Article 87(3)(c) regions and non-assisted regions;
3.7. sectorial breakdown of amounts under point 3.1. by beneficiaries' sectors
of activity (if more than one sector is covered, indicate the share of
each):
— agriculture
— fisheries and/or aquaculture
— coalmining
— manufacturing
of which:
steel
shipbuilding
synthetic fibresmotor vehiclesother manufacturing (please specify)2001R0068 — EN — 19.03.2004 — 001.001 — 11
(1) NUTS is the nomenclature of territorial units for statistical purposes in the EC.
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— services
of which:
maritime transport services
other transport services
financial services
other services (please specify)
— other sectors (please specify)
4. Other information and remarks2001R0068 — EN — 19.03.2004 — 001.001 — 12