Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 68/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to training aid

(2003/C 221/03)

(Text with EEA relevance)

Aid No: XT 62/02

Member State: United Kingdom

Region: West Midlands Objective 2 Region

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: Birmingham and Solihull Learning Skills Council Engineering Training (Obj2/02/1/1.4, Obj2/02/2/1.5 and Obj2/02/3/1.6)

Legal basis: Employment Act 1973, Sections 2(1) and 2(2) as substantiated by Section 25 of the Employment and Training Act 1998/Learning Skills Act 2000

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: Total public expenditure: UKL 1200000:

- 2002: UKL 600000

- 2003: UKL 600000

This aid will support 340 SMEs

Maximum aid intensity: Aid up to 75 % for SMEs in this Article 87(3)(c) region. No SME will receive more than UKL 125000

Date of implementation: 1 September 2002

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: 31 December 2003

Objective of aid: To give general training in order to improve the skills of individuals working for SMEs in the engineering sector and based in Art. 87(3)(c) areas, with the overarching aim of improving the general economic productivity of the assisted area.

Training supported under this programme will be general training to accredited national standards such as NVQ and will be transferable between economic sectors (see attached background documentation)

Economic sector(s) concerned: Other manufacturing: engineering, without prejudice to the regulations on sensitive sectors

Name and address of the granting authority: Paul Cornick, Manufacturing Sector Coordinator, 0121 345 4621 or Karen Brown 0121 345 4511 Birmingham and Solihull LSC Chaplin Court

80 Hurst Street

Birmingham B5 4TG United Kingdom

Other information: The organisations involved in delivering the training in this project are colleges, which are funded by the public sector and act as a conduit of funds to SMEs. The only exception to this is for core skills, which are delivered by both colleges and private training providers who have won a competitive tender to carry out this project

Aid No: XT 75/02

Member State: Germany

Region: Brandenburg

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: Competition inviting ideas on "Shaping the future for Brandenburg's youth after the completion of vocational training" as part of the Innopunkt programme - Aid provided by the Brandenburg Ministry for Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Women

Legal basis: Landeshaushaltsordnung des Landes Brandenburg (LHO), § 44 und die dazugehörigen Verwaltungsvorschriften

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The maximum amount of aid for the competition is EUR 2020906.

Expenditure is broken down as follows by year:

- 2002: EUR 430897 (EUR 301628 from the ESF and EUR 129269 from the Land)

- 2003: EUR 1076456 (EUR 753519 from the ESF and EUR 322937 from the Land)

- 2004: EUR 513553 (EUR 359487 from the ESF and EUR 154066 from the Land)

The maximum possible grant (70 % of which comes from ESF funds and 30 % from Land funds) is EUR 409034 per project. A total of six projects are being assisted, providing placement for a total of 250 young people in some 250 firms. Under each individual project, around 42 young people will be placed in around 42 firms.

The relevant costs are trainers' personnel costs, trainers' travel expenses, other current expenses and the cost of guidance and counselling services with regard to the training project, as specified in Article 4(7)(a) to (c) and (e) of the Regulation

Maximum aid intensity: The six projects selected following the competition consist of two stages.

In the first stage, the project organisers select appropriate unemployed young people, who are then processed individually. For this purpose, it is established what knowledge and abilities the young person already possesses and where there is a need for training. Since this pre-processing applies to the unemployed young people directly and irrespective of their locality and does not benefit firms or industries, it falls outside the scope of Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty.

In the second stage, the young person works in a firm, receiving training provided by the project organiser through general training measures. The general training measures receive assistance from the ESF and the Land:

- with a maximum aid intensity of 80 % if the young person is working in an SME (main case of application);

- with a maximum aid intensity of 60 % if the young person is working in a large firm.

The measures are being implemented only in the assisted area covered by Article 87(3)(a) of the EC Treaty

Date of implementation: The authorisations were notified to the project organisers on 22 August 2002. Since it is not until the second stage that work-place training is provided for the young people (this is planned to start only in about eight months' time), no aid has yet been granted

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: 1 August 2002 to 31 July 2004

Objective of aid: The training provided for young people under the assisted projects helps to increase their employability.

During the second stage of the projects, which is the stage to which the state aid rules apply, the assistance relates solely to training measures that are not in themselves useable only or mainly in the job in which the young person is gaining practical experience during the second project stage, but provide skills which are transferable to other firms and jobs and through which the placeability of the young person is significantly improved. The measures are therefore general training measures.

The training provides key skills and the ability to apply job-related know-how in various practical situations. It is thus ensured that the young person acquires skills which can be applied not just in the field of activity of the relevant firm, but also in other firms.

A feature of the projects selected as part of the competition for ideas (published on the internet at www.lasa-brandenburg. de/inno_pkt/content.htm) is that the project organisers establish contact with interested firms only during the course of the project and ascertain their training requirements. Once these training requirements have been established, the details (for example, determination of the actual content of the training) is worked out individually in relation to each young person

Economic sector(s) concerned: All economic sectors

Name and address of the granting authority: LASA Brandenburg GmbH Wetzlarer Straße 54 D - 14482 Potsdam

Aid No: XT 78/02

Member State: Germany

Region: Bavaria

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: mudra e. V. II; work projects for drug addicts

Legal basis: Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1784/1999/EPPD zu Ziel 3/Ergänzendes Programmplanungsdokument Ziel 3/Bayerische Haushaltsordnung (BayHO)

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: Total eligible costs: EUR 361995

ESF: EUR 97145

Maximum aid intensity: 45 %

Date of implementation: 16 July 2002

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: October 2002

Objective of aid: This is a general training measure for former drug addicts with a view to placement on the general labour market. Training is provided in forestry work, handicrafts and services. The level of skills and integration potential are enhanced by work experience placements. The measure will help to provide transferable skills which will significantly improve the placement potential of the participants

Economic sector(s) concerned: Other services

Name and address of the granting authority: Regierung von Mittelfranken Integrationsamt D - 91511 Ansbach

Aid No: XT 92/02

Member State: United Kingdom

Region: North West

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: Futaba Tenneco UK Limited

Legal basis: Regional Development Agencies Act 1998

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: UKL 32500

Maximum aid intensity: 17 %

Date of implementation: 1 December 2002

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: 31 March 2003

Objective of aid: Specific training aid, as outlined below.

The objective of the training is to provide Futaba Tenneco UK Limited (FTUK) with a workforce more able to respond to the needs of a modern manufacturing organisation. It will do this by training staff in interpersonal and empowerment skills and by providing basic financial training and an insight into the continuous improvement process. The training will also involve upskilling staff to use new machinery that has been recently installed at a cost of over UKL 20 million. The North West Development Agency believes that FTUK should be supported with grant funding for this training because its parent companies, based in Japan and the US, have already invested heavily in the plant without intervention. This small amount of funding not only demonstrates the commitment of local, regional and central government to the company but also provides FTUK with the tools, i.e. trained staff, to make the plant sustainable for the future

Economic sector(s) concerned: Automotive (manufacturer of parts for the automotive industry)

Name and address of the granting authority: North West Development Agency Renaissance House PO Box 37 Centre Park Warrington Cheshire WA1 1XB United Kingdom

Other information: Contact: Louise Berritta Tel. 01925 40 02 23 E-mail: Louise.Berritta@nwda.co.uk

Aid No: XT 99/02

Member State: United Kingdom

Region: England Objective 2 areas

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: Objective 2 2000-06 training

Legal basis: - Learning and Skills Act 2000

- Employment Act 1973, Section 2(1) and 2(2), as substantiated by Section 25 of the Employment and Training Act 1998

- Sections 5 and 6, Regional Development Agencies Act 1998

- Section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1993

- Further and Higher Education Act 1992

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: Total expenditure over a five-year period: UKL 317,024 million

Annual expenditure:

- 2002: UKL 18,193 million

- 2003: UKL 76,546 million

- 2004: UKL 72,012 million

- 2005: UKL 74,248 million

- 2006: UKL 76,025 million

Maximum aid intensity: - 25 % to large enterprises for specific training

- 35 % to SMEs for specific training

- 50 % to large enterprises for general training

- 70 % to SMEs for general training

All aid intensities may be increased by 5 percentage points in assisted areas.

Where aid is provided to a disadvantaged worker as defined in Article 2(g), the aid intensity can be increased by 10 percentage points.

No one undertaking will receive aid exceeding EUR 1000000

Date of implementation: 1 November 2002

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until 30 June 2007

Objective of aid: The objective of the aid is primarily to use training to improve the skills of management and the workforce of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and community enterprises within the Objective 2 area. The skills learnt will be used to improve the survival of start-up micro businesses and improve the productivity and efficiency of existing enterprises. The subsidiary benefit will assist deprived regions and help regenerate the economy. In a few cases the assistance will be given to large firms to provide ongoing training to SMEs in the supply chain, within the aid intensity levels permitted for large firms and strictly based on eligible costs.

General training

Where training supported through Objective 2 is general in nature, the maximum aid intensities for general training will apply. General training will be applicable not only to an employee's present or future position in the enterprise being assisted. This is because the provision of qualifications provides transferable skills that substantially improve the employability of the employee concerned. Where training leads to the award of National Vocational Qualifications and Key Skills Qualifications, training will be considered to be general in nature. More information is provided in the annex.

Specific training

Where training provided through Objective 2 is principally applicable to the employee's present or future position in the assisted enterprise and provides qualifications that are not transferable, the maximum aid intensities for specific training will apply

Economic sector(s) concerned: All sectors

Name and address of the granting authority: Department for Work and Pensions ESF Division Moorfoot Sheffield S1 4PQ United Kingdom 0114 267 73 06

Other information: Contact:

Steve Briggs

0114 267 73 06