EN Official Journal of the European Union C 227/1

DRAFT COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No …/…

of 5 August 2013

amending Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 as regards its period of application

2013/C 227/02

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 108(4) thereof,

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),

Having published a draft of this Regulation (2),

Having consulted the Advisory Committee on State Aid,

Whereas:

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production of agricultural products and amending Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 (3) will expire on 31 December 2013.

(2) The content of the future exemption regulation for aid granted to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the agriculture and forestry sector and in rural areas depends on various other instruments, in particular the new general block exemption regulation, replacing 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 (4). It also depends on the future rules applicable to rural development (5). Those other instruments are partly not yet in force on 1 January 2014 or not yet fully applicable at that moment.

(3) On those grounds, it is appropriate to extend the period of application of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 until 30 June 2014.

(4) Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5) For the application of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006, it is appropriate to clarify that after the repeal of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 of 20 September 2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (6) references to that Regulation need to be construed as references to the repealed Regulation.

(6) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Advisory Committee on State Aid,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

In Article 23(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006, the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘It shall apply from 1 January 2007 until 30 June 2014.’.

Article 2

For the purposes of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006, after the repeal of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, all references in Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 to Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 shall be construed as references to the repealed Regulation.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 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, 5 August 2013. For the Commission The President […] […]

(1) OJ L 142, 14.5.1998, p. 1.

(2) OJ C 227, 6.8.2013, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 358, 16.12.2006, p. 3.

(4) OJ L 214, 9.8.2008, p. 3.

(5) Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), COM(2011) 627 final/3.

(6) OJ L 277, 21.10.2005, p. 1.