EN Official Journal of the European Union C 119/6

Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production of agricultural products and amending Regulation (EC) No 70/2001

2010/C 119/04

Aid No: XA 267/09

Member State: France

Region: Département de la Corrèze

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Aides à l'agriculture biologique en Corrèze

Legal basis:

— articles L 1511-1 et suivants et articles L 3231-1 et suivants du code général des collectivités territoriales

— délibération de l'assemblée plénière du Conseil général du 18 décembre 2008

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 31 500

(The amount of planned annual expenditure can be reviewed annually.)

Maximum aid intensity: 40 %

In addition, the General Council will contribute to projects of over EUR 4 000. The upper limit for eligible expenditure is set at EUR 15 000.

Date of implementation: 2009, following receipt of the acknowledgement of receipt showing the identification number of the measure and publication of the summary of the measure on the Commission website.

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until 31 December 2013

Objective of aid: The objective of this measure, within the context of Article 4 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006, is to encourage farmers to convert to organic farming or to increase their production in this area, by means of aid enabling them to take on the high financial burden associated with the cost of alternative, or even specific, equipment required by organic production, costs that are high in comparison with conventional farming methods.

This measure will enable the Corrèze General Council to:

raise awareness of organic farming among the region’s farmers,

improve the quality of the region’s production and provide incentives for farmers to convert to organic farming,

thus contribute to preserving and improving the natural environment.

The following investments are eligible:

equipment associated with developing storage and product processing activities,

crop treatment equipment,

weeding equipment encompassing the entire range of mechanical and thermal weeding tools,

soil working tools that are known for their agronomic benefits or for promoting organic soil fertility,

storage facilities for mixed systems, i.e. for farms that practise both farming methods (organic and conventional on the same farm).

All farmers from Corrèze registered with the Mutualité Sociale Agricole — MSA — Mutual Agricultural Fund who are certified organic or in the process of converting and fulfil the condition of a minimum of 40 % of their turnover being derived from organic farming activities are eligible.

Only farms that qualify as SMEs within the meaning of Community law will be eligible for this aid.

The details of this measure can be found on line on the General Council's website at the address below.

Sector(s) concerned: Livestock and crop production (all types of production)

Name and address of the granting authority:

Conseil Général de la Corrèze Direction du développement économique Hôtel du Département Marbot 9 rue René et Émile Fage — BP 199 19005 Tulle Cedex FRANCE

Website: http://www.cg19.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/Correze_et_institution/Guide_aides/Economie/DEPA_Agriculturebio_2009.pdf

Other information: —

Aid No: XA 269/09

Member State: France

Region: Département de la Corrèze

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Aide au maintien d'une activité agricole par l'aménagement des sols et la préservation des paysages (Corrèze).

Legal basis:

— articles L 1511-1 et suivants et articles L 3231-1 et suivants du Code général des collectivités territoriales,

— délibération de l'assemblée plénière du Conseil Général du 18 décembre 2008«politique sectorielle agricole».

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 510 000 per year

The amount of planned annual expenditure can be reviewed annually.

Maximum aid intensity: 35 %

The intervention rate can be reviewed annually within the limit of the ceilings set.

Date of implementation: 2010, following receipt of the acknowledgement of receipt showing the identification number of the measure and publication of the summary of the measure on the Commission website.

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until 31 December 2013

Objective of aid: In the context of Article 4 of the agricultural exemption regulation, the objective of the measure will be to support farmers carrying out work on unbuilt land, with the aim of improving agricultural production and quality and preserving and improving the natural environment.

This scheme is part of a programme to encourage reductions in water consumption, improve the quality of aquatic areas (water courses, wetlands etc.), re-utilise farm land and open up valley floors to maintain biodiversity.

Eligible costs will cover:

all work required to redeploy land for farming (levelling embankments and ditches, land clearing) and for soil remediation and the protection of water courses,

purchase and installation of livestock watering facilities and equipment to protect water courses.

For soil remediation and work related to providing livestock watering facilities, aid will be granted provided that the investments reduce water consumption by at least 25 %. Decreased water abstraction and technical improvements to the equipment purchased or the work carried out will be factored in when measuring the reduction in water consumption.

Furthermore, aid will be paid exclusively to:

farms whose size does not exceed that of an SME as defined in EU legislation (cf. Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008, OJ L 214 of 9 August 2008),

farms that are enterprises active in the primary production of agricultural products,

farms that are not enterprises in difficulty within the meaning of the Community guidelines on State aid for the rescue and restructuring of companies in difficulty (OJ C 244 of 1 October 2004),

in any case, no aid proposed may exceed the ceiling indicated in Article 4(9) of the Regulation on agricultural exemption.

Sector(s) concerned: All agricultural production throughout the Corrèze department

Name and address of the granting authority:

Conseil général de la Corrèze Direction du développement durable Hôtel du département Marbot 9 rue René et Émile Fage — BP 30 19005 Tulle Cedex FRANCE

Website: http://www.cg19.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/Correze_et_institution/Guide_aides/Aides_2009/Economie/DEPA_Amenagement_sols_2009.pdf

Other information: —

Aid No: XA 280/09

Member State: France

Region: Department of Seine-Maritime

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Aide en assistance technique pour des productions sans OGM par l’autonomie en protéines (Seine-Maritime)

Legal basis: Article L1511-2 du Code général des collectivités territoriales

Articles L3231-2 et 3232-1 du Code général des collectivités territoriales

Délibération du Conseil général du 31 mars 2009 relatif à la politique agricole départementale, période 2009-2012.

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 40 000 per year

Maximum aid intensity: 100 %, within the limit of the EUR 1 500 ceiling

Date of implementation: From the date of publication of the registration number of the exemption request on the website of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: 2009-2012 period

Objective of aid: Given that some inhabitants of the Seine-Maritime region wish to consume products that are totally GMO free, the aim of this scheme is to help farmers and specifically those who produce, process and sell on the farm (or through short distribution channels), to change their feed system so as to make the farm self-sufficient in proteins, which is the only means of producing food without GMOs.

However, this objective requires the farmer to reorganise his feed system by becoming self-sufficient in proteins. The department wishes to help with the costs of providing advice on implementing this conversion. This aid will take the form of a one-off payment; the farmer will only be able to make one aid request in the period 2009-2012.

Aid will be granted in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.

Sector(s) concerned: The entire agricultural sector (SMEs)

Name and address of the granting authority:

Monsieur le Président du département de Seine-Maritime Quai Jean Moulin 76101 Rouen Cedex 1 FRANCE

Website: http://www.seinemaritime.net/guidedesaides/medias/File/aide-a-la-production-sans-ogm-par-l-autonomie-en-proteines-+-formulaire-t2.pdf

Other information: —

Aid No: XA 307/09

Member State: Spain

Region: Comunitat Valenciana

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Régimen de ayudas a la mejora de la competitividad de las explotaciones ganaderas

Legal basis: Proyecto de Orden, de la Conselleria de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, por la que se establecen las bases reguladoras de las ayudas a la mejora de la competitividad de las explotaciones ganaderas de la Comunitat Valenciana

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The total estimated budget appropriation for the 2010 financial year is EUR 1 820 000.

Maximum aid intensity: 40 % for investment of a general nature, and 50 % in less-favoured areas: these percentages will be increased by 10 % in the case of investments made by young farmers within five years of their establishment.

Date of implementation:

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: 2010, and extendable annually provided it is included in the budget until 31 December 2013.

Objective of aid: The objective is to reduce production costs, improve the quality of the final product, reduce environmental impact and improve hygiene on farms and animal welfare.

Article 4, Investment in agricultural holdings.

Eligible costs: Construction, acquisition or improvement of livestock facilities and purchase of stockbreeding machinery and equipment.

Sector(s) concerned: Production sector, livestock subsectors in general

Name and address of the granting authority:

Conselleria de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación C/ Amadeo de Saboya, 2 46010 Valencia ESPAÑA

Website: http://www.agricultura.gva.es/especiales/ayudas_agrarias/pdf/competitividad.pdf

Other information: —