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 23/04)

(Text with EEA relevance)

Aid No: XT 51/01

Member State: Italy

Region: Tuscany

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: Aid to promote company, sectoral and regional training plans and to develop continuing training in Tuscany

Legal basis: Delibera della giunta regionale della Toscana n. 1120 del 15 ottobre 2001, attuativa di quanto disposto dalla legge 236/93, articolo 9, in merito alla realizzazione di interventi di formazione continua da parte delle regioni e delle province autonome

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 11743369,85 (ITL 22738334748) for the period between October 2001 and the end of 2002, allocated to Tuscany by Ministry of Labour and Social Security Circular 92/2000. For subsequent years, the funds allocated to Tuscany will be determined by implementing circulars issued each year by the Ministry. The expected annual allocation is EUR 3873426,74 (ITL 7500000000)

Maximum aid intensity: The aid is granted by reimbursing duly documented eligible expenditure actually incurred in implementing training activities, subject to the following maximum aid intensities as provided for by Regulation (EC) No 68/2001:

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The above intensities are increased by 10 percentage points if the training is given to disadvantaged workers, as defined in Article 2(g) of Regulation (EC) No 68/2001.

Where the aid is granted in the maritime transport sector, it may reach an intensity of 100 %, regardless of whether the training project concerns specific or general training, provided that the following condtions are met:

- the trainee may not be an active member of the crew but must be supernumerary on board, and

- the training must be carried out on board ships on Community registers

Date of implementation: 15 October 2001

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

Objective of aid: The aid scheme covers general and specific training. General training within the meaning of Article 2(e) of Regulation (EC) No 68/2001 involves training which is not applicable only or principally to the employee's present or future position in the assisted firm but which provides qualifications that are largely transferable to other firms or fields of work and thereby substanially improve the employability of the employee.

For the purposes of implementing this aid scheme, "general" training means:

- inter-enterprise training, i.e. training organised jointly by different independent enterprises (under the Community rules defining SMEs) or in which employees of different enterprises may take part. Checks are made on supporting documents during the project selection procedure to ensure that these requirements are fulfilled (the training is inter-enterprise and the enterprises are independent);

- Company training relating to job profiles included in the regional calssification or training relating to profiles for which inclusion in the catalogue is requested. The relevant certificate is issued by the region or province concerned. The legal basis for the certification system is Regional Law No 70 of 31 August 1994 (new rules on vocational training), and more specifically Article 11 thereof, which provides for the issue of a vocational training or specilisation certificate for certain training activities following an aptitude test, and Article 18 thereof, which confers on the Regional Council the powers to determine the job profiles included in the regional classification and in respect of which the vocational training or specialisation certificate is issued

Economic sector(s) concerned: - farming

- fisheries and aquaculture

- coalmining

- steel

- shipbuilding

- synthetic fibres

- motor vehicle industry

- other manufacturing industries

- all services.

Comments: The aid scheme applies to all sectors covered by Regulation (EC) No 68/2001. It does not apply to aid for training or retraining workers employed by firms in difficulty within the meaning of the Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty (OJ C 288, 9.10.1999), as part of rescue or restructuring operations assisted through public funds (rescue and/or restructuring aid). Such aid will be assessed in the light of the above guidelines. Neither does te aid scheme apply if the amount of aid granted to one enterprise for a single training project exceeds EUR 1 million, in which case the individual aid grant must be notified to the Commission for its approval

Name and address of the granting authority: Regione Toscana - Dipartimento delle politiche formative e dei beni culturali Servizio FSE e Sistema della formazione professionale Piazza della Libertà, 15 I - 50129 Firenze ( Italia )