Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty

Cases where the Commission raises no objections

(2003/C 296/02)

Date of adoption of the decision: 11.11.2003

Member State: Germany

Aid No: N 436/03

Title: Programme of aid for agricultural holdings and fish farms whose existence is under threat as a result of the extremely dry and hot weather in 2003

Objective: To safeguard the existence of holdings affected by the extremely dry and hot weather in 2003. The aid will compensate the holdings for losses incurred as a result of the dry weather

Legal basis: Verwaltungsvereinbarung zwischen Bund und Ländern über die Beteiligung des Bundes an Hilfsprogrammen der Länder für landwirtschaftliche Unternehmen und Betriebe der Aquakultur, die durch die Folgen der extremen Trockenheit oder Hitze 2003 in ihrer Existenz gefährdet sind

Budget: EUR 90 million

Aid intensity or amount: The aid is to be paid in the form of direct grants or interest subsidies for capital market loans. The aid intensity is variable

Duration: One-off aid

The authentic text(s) of the decision, from which all confidential information has been removed, can be found at

http://europa.eu.int/comm/ secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids

Date of adoption of the decision: 11.11.2003

Member State: Italy

Aid No: N 381/03

Title: Sectoral contract arrangements

Objective: Encourage the creation of agricultural supply chains

Legal basis: Decreto del Ministro delle politiche agricole e forestali recante criteri, modalità e procedure per l'attuazione dei contratti di filiera, in attuazione della legge 27 dicembre 2002, n. 289, articolo 66, commi 1 e 2

Budget: EUR 300 million for 2003-2005

Aid intensity or amount: Investment aid to farmers: 40 to 75 %

Aid for the processing/marketing of agricultural products: 40 or 50 %.

Start-up or expansion aid: 100 % the first year, falling to zero by means of annual reductions of 20 percentage points.

Aid for carrying out quality checks: 100 % the first year, falling to zero by means of annual reductions of about 16.7 percentage points.

Aid for testing organic products and verifying mandatory labelling systems: 100 %.

Technical assistance for promoting the marketing of quality products: up to EUR 100000 per recipient or three-year period, or 50 % of expenditure in the case of SMEs, whichever is higher.

Technical assistance except for promoting the marketing of quality products: up to EUR 100000 per recipient or three-year period, or 50 % of expenditure for SMEs, whichever is higher.

Aid for advertising: 50 % (75 % for products of SMEs situated in Objective 1 regions).

Research aid: 50 % or 100 %

Duration: Unspecified

The authentic text(s) of the decision, from which all confidential information has been removed, can be found at

http://europa.eu.int/comm/ secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids

Date of adoption of the decision: 11.11.2003

Member State: Germany (Saxony)

Aid No: N 265/03

Title: Individual aid for Leppersdorf dairy

Objective: To finance investments in processing and marketing milk and milk products.

Legal basis: Investitionszulagengesetz

Budget: EUR 40035579

Aid intensity or amount: The aid will be granted in the form of direct subsidies. The maximum aid intensity is 22,8 % of eligible expenditure

Duration: Until 31 December 2004

The authentic text(s) of the decision, from which all confidential information has been removed, can be found at

http://europa.eu.int/comm/ secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids

Date of adoption of the decision: 11.11.2003

Member State: Austria (Upper Austria)

Aid No: N 203/03

Title: Amendment of the grassland protection program Upper Austria

Objective: Preservation of field forage cultivation. The difficult income situation of milk and beef producers have led to a situation where grass land with field forage growing is replaced by other cultures of higher yields, especially by silage maize and cereals. The environmental consequences of such development are increased erosion, impoverishment in plant and animal species and the use of pesticides. The danger of erosion is particularly associated with the cultivation of silage maize, which is the most common plant replacing field forage growing. In order to encourage farmers to continue field forage growing support could be granted for commitments concerning field forage growing of grass ley (/Kleegras), /clover (/Klee), /alfalfa (/Luzerne), /forage grasses (/Futtergräser) or /seeded pastures (/Wechselwiesen)

Legal basis: Richtlinien des Landes Oberösterreich für die Gewährung von Beihilfen nach dem Oberösterreichischen Grünlandsicherungsprogramm mit der Programmergänzung "Feldfutterbau" ab 2003

Budget: The annual costs of the amendment have been estimated at 1,42 Mio EUR

Aid intensity or amount: The amount of aid is 37 EUR per ha field forage area. It appears from the examples provided by the Austrian authorities that the aid intensity varies between ca 23 and 36 %

Duration: Unlimited

The authentic text(s) of the decision, from which all confidential information has been removed, can be found at

http://europa.eu.int/comm/ secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids

Date of adoption of the decision: 11.11.2003

Member State: Finland

Aid No: N 138/03

Title: Aid for removing tree stumps

Objective: The purpose of the measure is to provide aid for mechanical prevention against annosus root rot (Hetrobasidion annosum). The notified aid measure partly covers the cost of mechanically removing the tree stumps in regeneration felling (clear cutting in infected areas) instead of treating the stumps chemically. The aid is limited to the amount that the treating of the tree stumps with pesticides would costs (the cost of the prevention chemicals and of their application)

Legal basis: - Maa- ja metsätalousministeriön asetus juurikäävän torjunnasta

- Jord- och skogsbrukministeriets bestämmelse om förebyggande av rotticka

Budget: Approximately EUR 200000

Aid intensity or amount: EUR 0,44 per solid cubic meter of harvested stock

Duration: Unlimited

The authentic text(s) of the decision, from which all confidential information has been removed, can be found at

http://europa.eu.int/comm/ secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids