(16)

The following sections are inserted after Article 56: ‘SECTION 14 Aid for regional airports Article 56a Investment aid for regional airports 1. Investment aid to an airport shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled. 2. The investment concerned shall not exceed what is necessary to accommodate the medium-term expected traffic on the basis of reasonable traffic forecasts. 3. The airport shall be open to all potential users. In the case of physical limitation of capacity, the allocation shall take place on the basis of pertinent, objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria. 4. The aid shall not be granted to an airport located within 100 kilometres or 60 minutes travelling time by car, bus, train or high-speed train from an existing airport from which scheduled air services, within the meaning of Article 2(16) of Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008, are operated. 5. The aid shall not be granted to airports with an average annual passenger traffic of more than three million passengers during the two financial years preceding the year in which aid is actually granted. The aid shall not be expected to result in the airport increasing its average annual traffic to above three million passengers within two financial years following the granting of the aid. 6. The aid shall not be granted to airports with an average annual freight traffic above 200 000 tonnes during the two financial years preceding the year in which aid is actually granted. It shall also not apply where the aid is expected to result in the airport increasing its average annual freight traffic to above 200 000 tonnes within two financial years following the granting of the aid. 7. The aid shall not be granted for the relocation of existing airports or for the creation of a new passenger airport, including the conversion of an existing airfield into a passenger airport. 8. The aid amount shall not exceed the difference between the eligible costs and the operating profit of the investment. The operating profit shall be deducted from the eligible costs ex ante, on the basis of reasonable projections, or through a claw-back mechanism. 9. The eligible costs shall be the costs relating to the investments in airport infrastructure, including planning costs. 10. The aid amount shall not exceed: (a) 50 % of eligible costs for airports with an average annual passenger traffic of one to three million passengers during the two financial years preceding the year in which aid is actually granted; (b) 75 % of the eligible costs for airports with average annual passenger traffic of up to one million passengers during the two financial years preceding the year in which aid is actually granted. 11. The maximum aid intensities may be increased by 20 percentage points for airports located in remote regions. 12. Paragraphs 2 and 4 shall not apply to airports with an average annual passenger traffic of up to 150 000 passengers during the two financial years preceding the year in which aid is actually granted if the aid is not expected to result in the airport increasing its average annual passenger traffic to above 150 000 passengers. Aid granted to such airports shall comply either with paragraph 8 or with paragraphs 10 and 11. SECTION 15 Aid for ports Article 56b Investment aid for maritime ports 1. Investment aid for maritime ports shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled. 2. The eligible costs shall be the costs, including planning costs, of investments: (a) for the construction, replacement or upgrade of maritime port infrastructures; and (b) for the construction, replacement or upgrade of access infrastructure within the area of the port. This includes dredging within the area of the port, with the exception of maintenance dredging. 3. Investment costs relating to non-transport related activities, including industrial production facilities active in the perimeter of the port, offices or shops, as well as for superstructures shall not be eligible costs. 4. The aid intensity shall not exceed the difference between the eligible costs and the operating profit of the investment. The operating profit shall be deducted from the eligible costs ex ante, on the basis of reasonable projections, or through a claw-back mechanism. 5. The maximum aid amount for the investments defined in paragraph 2 (a) shall not exceed: (a) 100 % of the eligible costs where eligible costs are up to EUR 20 million; (b) 80 % of the eligible costs where eligible costs are above EUR 20 million and up to EUR 50 million; (c) 50 % of the eligible costs where eligible costs are above EUR 50 million and up to EUR 100 million; (d) 50 % of the eligible costs where eligible costs are up to EUR 120 million for the maritime ports included in the work plan of a core network corridor as referred to in Article 47 of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013. The maximum aid intensity for the investments defined in paragraph 2 (b) shall not exceed 100 % of the eligible costs; 6. The aid intensities laid down in points (b), (c) and (d) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 5 may be increased by 10 percentage points for investments located in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3)(a) of the Treaty and by 5 percentage points for investments located in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty. 7. Any aided investment started by the same beneficiary within a period of three years from the date of the start of works on another aided investment in the same maritime port shall be considered to be part of a single investment project. 8. Any concession or other entrustment to a third party to construct, upgrade, operate or rent aided port infrastructure shall be assigned on a competitive, transparent, non-discriminatory and unconditional basis. The duration of any concession or other entrustment for the rental or operation of the aided port infrastructure to a third party shall not exceed the time that this third party could reasonably be expected to take to recoup the investments made in operating the works or services together with a return on invested capital taking into account the investments required to achieve the specific contractual objectives. 9. The aided port infrastructure shall be made available to interested users on an equal and non-discriminatory basis on market terms. 10. For aid not exceeding EUR 5 million, the maximum amount of aid may be set at 80 % of eligible costs, alternatively to the method referred to in paragraphs 4, 5 and 6. Article 56c Investment aid for inland ports 1. Investment aid for inland ports shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled. 2. The eligible costs shall be the costs, including planning costs, of the investments: (a) for the construction, replacement or upgrade of inland port infrastructures; and (b) for the construction, replacement or upgrade of access infrastructure within the area of the port. This includes dredging within the area of the port, with the exception of maintenance dredging. 3. Investment costs relating to non-transport related activities, including industrial production facilities active in the perimeter of the port, offices or shops, as well as for superstructures shall not be eligible. 4. The aid amount shall not exceed the difference between the eligible costs and the operating profit of the investment. The operating profit shall be deducted from the eligible costs ex ante, on the basis of reasonable projections, or through a claw-back mechanism. 5. The maximum aid intensity shall not exceed 100 % of the eligible costs. 6. Any aided investment started by the same beneficiary within a period of three years from the date of start of works on another aided investment in the same inland port shall be considered to be part of a single investment project. 7. Any concession or other entrustment to a third party to construct, upgrade, operate or rent aided port infrastructure shall be assigned on a competitive, transparent, non-discriminatory and unconditional basis. The duration of any concession or other entrustment for the rental or operation of the aided port infrastructure to a third party shall not exceed the time that this third party could reasonably be expected to take to recoup the investments made in operating the works or services together with a return on invested capital taking into account the investments required to achieve the specific contractual objectives. 8. The aided port infrastructure shall be made available to interested users on an equal and non-discriminatory basis on market terms. 9. For aid not exceeding EUR 2 million, the maximum amount of aid may be set at 80 % of eligible costs, alternatively to the method referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5.’