Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises

(2002/C 58/06)

(Text with EEA relevance)

Aid No: XS/23/2001

Member State: Greece

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: Support and creation of innovative SMEs for the exploitation of RTD results

Legal basis: Presidential Decree 17-30/01/01 (14A)

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

>TABLE>

Maximum aid intensity: The aid intensity must not exceed the ceiling of regional investment aid specified in the regional aid map approved for Greece by the Commission and will cover up to 50 % of eligible costs

Date of implementation: April 2001

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: April 2001 to December 2006

Objective of aid: The objective of the aid is to support the creation of innovative SMEs (mainly micro-enterprises) by researchers, academics, research centres or enterprises for the commercial exploitation of RTD results. The main eligible costs concern tangible and intangible investment for the start-up of the new company. The scheme is in full accordance with the EU policy to foster entrepreneurship, innovation and employment in the European Union

Economic sector(s) concerned: All sector, all services

Name and address of the granting authority: General Secretariat for Research and Technology Ave Messogion 14-18 GR - 115 10 Athens

Other information: The aid is co-financed by the CFS 2000-06

Aid No: XS/29/2001

Member State: Italy

Region: Calabria

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: Regional aid scheme for SMEs

Legal basis: Legge regionale 2 maggio 2001, n. 7, art. 37 quater, commi 1-6. Programma Operativo Regionale Calabria n. 1999 IT 16 1 PO006. Decisione Comunità Europea C(2000) 2345 dell'8.8.2000

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The indicative budget available for the entire programming period 2000-2006 is around EUR 800 million of public money (excluding the private share), 50 % of which is Community part-financing (ERDF)

Maximum aid intensity: The maximum admissible intensity is 50 % nge with an additional 15 percentage points, expressed in gge. The overall net intensity of the aid must not exceed 75 %

The aid for tangible and intangible investment is granted on condition that the investment is maintained in the region for at least five years and that the recipient's contribution to its financing is at least 25 %

The ceilings apply to an aid intensity calculated either as a percentage of the eligible costs of the investment or as a percentage of the wage costs of jobs created as a result of the investment (aid to job creation) or a combination of the two, provided that the aid does not exceed the most favourable amount resulting from the application of either calculation

Date of implementation: March 2001

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until December 2006

Objective of aid: The objective of the aid is to facilitate the growth of SMEs in Calabria. These firms play a crucial role in the development of the region, as they are a vital means of creating new jobs and generating new investments. At present, they have serious difficulty in gaining access to capital and credit because of the reluctance on the part of the financial system to take on risks backed by the limited guarantees they are able to offer. The scarcity of their resources therefore reduces the possibility of carrying out investments and accessing information, in particular on new technologies and potential markets

In view of the above, the region of Calabria intends to facilitate investments by granting financial aid, always provided that such aid does not adversely affect trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest

Economic sector(s) concerned: The scheme applies to all sectors, without prejudice to Community Regulations or Directives on State aid in specific sectors such as shipbuilding and the steel industry

The scheme does not apply to activities linked to the production, processing or marketing of products listed in Annex 1 to the Treaty

Name and address of the granting authority: Regione Calabria, Dipartimento Industria, Commercio e Artigianato

Other information: Person in overall charge: Mr Domenico Pecoraro

Tel. (39) 0961 616 47

Aid No: XS/35/2001

Member State: Netherlands

Region: The provinces of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe are responsible for implementing the aid scheme. They have decided to entrust actual implementation to the Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland (North Netherlands Cooperation Association), a public body set up under the Wet Gemeenschappelijke Regelingen (Joint Arrangements Law)

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: Subsidy scheme for human resource managment 2001

Legal basis: Besluit van de drie noordelijke Provinciale Staten d.d. 31 december 2000 en besluit van het Dagelijks Bestuur van het Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland d.d. 27 maart 2001

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The annual budget is EUR 2722681 (NLG 6 million)

Maximum aid intensity: Small enterprises: 50 % gross

Medium-sized enterprises: 50 % gross

Date of implementation: Aid under Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 will be granted as from 15 March 2001

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: The scheme will end on 31 December 2006

Objective of aid: To contribute to the costs of enlisting external expertise for the purpose of introducing or improving strategic personnel management

The costs of permanent or recurrent services are excluded, as is normal business expenditure

Economic sector(s) concerned: All sectors except the primary sector. This means that agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture are excluded from the scheme. The rules enacted for the following sectors will continue to be applied in full:

- the processing and sale of agricultural products, as referred to in Annex 1 to the EC Treaty

- the processing and sale of fisheries and aquaculture products, as referred to in Annex 1 to the EC Treaty

- the transport sector

- the iron and steel sector, as referred to in Commission Decision No 2496/96/ECSC of 18 December 1996 establishing Community rules for State aid to the steel industry (OJ L 218, 1997) and the framework for certain steel sectors not covered by the ECSC Treaty (OJ C 320, 1988)

- the coal sector, as referred to in Commission Decision No 3632/93/ECSC of 28 December 1993 establishing Community rules for State aid to the coal industry (OJ L 329, 1993) and Commission Decision No 341/94/ECSC of 8 February 1994 implementing Decision No 3632/93/ECSC establishing Community rules for State aid to the coal industry (OJ L 49, 1994)

- shipbuilding, as referred to in Council Regulation (EC) No 1540/98 of 29 June 1998 establishing new rules on aid to shipbuilding (OJ L 202, 1998)

- the synthetic fibres sector, as referred to in the Code on aid to the synthetic fibres industry (96/C 94/07) and the notice on the extension of the period of its validity (OJ C 24, 1999)

- the motor vehicle industry, as referred to in the Community framework for State aid to the motor vehicle industry (OJ C 279, 1997)

Name and address of the granting authority: Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland c/o Postbus 779 9700 AT Groningen Netherlands

Aid No: XS/38/2001

Member State: Netherlands

Region: Province of Flevoland

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: SME scheme Flevoland 2000

Legal basis: Provinciale verordening gebaseerd op de Provinciewet

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 5070994 (budget for the entire period up to 31 December 2006)

Maximum aid intensity: New plant: maximum EUR 1000000

Expansion or restructuring: maximum EUR 600000

Date of implementation: Once the European Commission has announced that it has no objection to its introduction, the scheme will be published and will enter into force on that date

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until 31 December 2006

Objective of aid: To stimulate general investment in the municipalities of Almere, Zeewolde, Dronten and Noordoostpolder

Economic sector(s) concerned: All sectors except:

- the transport sector

- public utilities

- agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture

- the iron and steel industry

- the coal sector

- shipbuilding

- the synthetic fibres sector

- the motor vehcile industry

Name and address of the granting authority: Provincie Flevoland Visarenddreef 1, Lelystad Netherlands Contact person: Ms S.R. Dijkstra (31) 320-26 56 78