EN Official Journal of the European Union C 275/9

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

(2008/C 275/04)

Aid No: XA 218/07

Member State: Republic of Slovenia

Region: Območje občine Dobrna

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving individual aid: Programi razvoja podeželja v občini Dobrna 2007–2013

Legal basis: Pravilnik o dodeljevanju državnih pomoči v občini Dobrna

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

2007: EUR 12 100

2008: EUR 12 100

2009: EUR 12 250

2010: EUR 12 250

2011: EUR 12 400

2012: EUR 12 400

2013: EUR 12 400

Maximum aid intensity:

1. Investment in agricultural holdings for primary production:

— up to 40 % of eligible costs.

The purpose of the aid is to invest in the restoration of farm features, to purchase equipment to be used for agricultural production, to invest in permanent crops and to improve farmland and provide private access ways on farms.

2. Conservation of traditional buildings:

— up to 60 % of actual costs for investment in non-productive heritage features and productive heritage features, provided that the investment does not lead to an increase in production potential.

3. Aid towards the payment of insurance premiums:

— the difference between the amount of co-financing of insurance premiums from the national budget and up to 50 % of eligible costs of insurance premiums for insuring crops and fruit and for insuring livestock against disease.

4. Provision of technical support in the agricultural sector:

— up to 100 % of costs of education and training of farmers, consultancy services, the organisation of forums, competitions, exhibitions and fairs, publications, catalogues and websites, and for disseminating scientific knowledge. The aid is to be granted in the form of subsidised services and must not involve direct payments of money to producers

Date of implementation: June 2007 (or the date on which the Rules enter into force)

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

Objective of the aid: To support SMEs

Reference to Articles in Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 and eligible costs: Chapter III of the Rules on granting State aid in the municipality of Dobrna includes measures constituting State aid in accordance with the following Articles of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 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 (OJ L 358, 16.12.2006, p. 3):

Article 4: Investment in agricultural holdings,

Article 5: Conservation of traditional landscapes and buildings,

Article 12: Aid towards the payment of insurance premiums,

Article 15: Provision of technical support in the agricultural sector

Economic sector(s) concerned: Agriculture — plant production and livestock farming

Name and address of granting authority:

Občina Dobrna Dobrna 19 SLO-3204 Dobrna

Website: http://www.uradni-list.si/1/ulonline.jsp?urlid=200771&dhid=91192

Other information: The measure for the payment of insurance premiums to insure crops and fruit includes the following adverse climatic events which can be assimilated to natural disasters: spring frost, hail, lightning, fire caused by lightning, storm and floods.

The municipality's Rules meet the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 concerning the measures to be adopted by the municipality and the general provisions applicable (steps preceding grant of aid, cumulation, transparency and monitoring of aid)

Martin BRECL

Župan

Aid No: XA 220/07

Member State: France

Regions: Local authorities (Regions, Departments) that want to supplement State aid or grant similar aid themselves

Title of aid scheme: Aides à l'appui technique en faveur des productions de fruits, de légumes, de la viticulture et de l'horticulture ornementale

Legal basis: Articles L 621-1 et s. du Code rural

Annual expenditure planned under the aid scheme: The annual aid budget, subject to budgetary allocations, is estimated at EUR 1 000 000 in respect of VINIFLHOR and an unspecified amount in respect of local authorities

Maximum aid intensity: Up to 100 % of eligible costs. The aid shall be granted in kind by means of subsidised services and must not involve direct payments of money to producers

Date of implementation: Starts on the date the exemption form is received by the Commission

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Six years

Objective of aid: This aid scheme falls under Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006. The first aim of this aid for technical support, given the sharp increase in the cost of energy, is to encourage producers that use glasshouses to integrate the most appropriate energy strategy into their facilities and production tools. As part of this, technical-economic audits and energy surveys may be subsidised. However technical support may change over the six-year period as operators in the above-mentioned sectors face changing production or market conditions. Therefore aid for technical support may be granted to cover the costs of training, replacement services, sporadic consultancy services, in particular for restructuring or production diversification projects, participating in fairs, exhibitions and competitions and for disseminating economic or scientific information (including the costs of editing publications and creating websites)

Sectors(s) concerned: Fruit, vegetables, wine and ornamental horticulture

Name and address of the granting authority:

Office National Interprofessionnel des Fruits, des Légumes, des Vins et de l'Horticulture (VINIFLHOR) TSA 40004 F-93555 Montreuil sous Bois Cedex

Website: www.viniflhor.fr

Heading: fruit and vegetables

Sub-heading: French rules, sub-heading: State aid

Other information: Local authorities that supplement VINIFLHOR funding must do so under the same conditions as those laid down by the office and must comply with the ceilings for aid

Aid No: XA 221/07

Member State: Hungary

Region: All of Hungary

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving individual aid:

— A tenyésztésszervezési feladatok támogatása a törzskönyvezés, a teljesítményvizsgálat és a tenyészérték megállapítás igazgatási, illetőleg vizsgálati költségeihez történő hozzájárulás formájában

Legal basis:

— A 2007. évi tenyésztésszervezési feladatok támogatása igénybevételének részletes feltételeiről szóló …/2007. (…) FVM rendelet

— Az állattenyésztésről szóló 1993. évi CXIV. törvény

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: HUF 780 million

Maximum aid intensity: Aid at a rate of up to 100 % of the administrative costs of the establishment and maintenance of herd books, 70 % of costs of tests to determine the genetic quality or yield of livestock, and 50 % of performance testing costs for the purposes of approving breeds.

The Regulation lays down the maximum aid amount per item

Date of implementation: August 2007, after Commission position

Duration of scheme or individual aid award:

Objective of aid: The objective of the aid is to maintain and improve the genetic quality of livestock and to support the provision of organisational activities relating to livestock farming.

The provisions of Article 16(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 are applied to support for keeping herd books. Support for tests to determine the genetic quality or yield of livestock is in accordance with the provisions of Article 16(b).

The eligible costs of the programme were determined taking 2007 expenditure into account; the maximum amount which can be taken into account is determined by the Regulation

Sector(s) concerned: Bovine animals, pigs, sheep, goats, horses, poultry and certain pets

Name and address of the granting authority:

Földművelésügyi és Vidékfejlesztési Minisztérium Kossuth Lajos tér 11. H-1055 Budapest

Website: http://www.fvm.hu/main.php?folderID=1846&articleID=10860&ctag=articlelist&iid=1

Budapest, 10 August 2007.

Dr. Máhr ANDRÁS

szakállamtitkár

Aid No: XA 242/07

Member State: Slovak Republic

Region: —

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving individual aid: Schéma štátnej pomoci poskytovanej formou odpustenia alebo zníženia povinnosti zaplatiť poplatok z omeškania podľa § 574 Občianskeho zákonníka a odpustenia alebo zníženia úroku z omeškania podľa § 18, ods. 2 zákona č. 580/2004 Z. z. o zdravotnom poistení v znení neskorších predpisov – poskytovanie štátnej pomoci malým a stredným podnikom pôsobiacim v prvotnej výrobe poľnohospodárskych výrobkov

Legal basis:

— § 574 Občianskeho zákonníka

— § 18 zákona č. 580/2004 Z. z. o zdravotnom poistení v znení neskorších predpisov

— zákon č. 231/1999 Z. z. o štátnej pomoci v znení neskorších predpisov

— Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 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 (OJ L 358, 16.12.2006, p. 3)

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: SKK 100 million in the second half of 2007; SKK 200 million for each year from 2008 to 2013

Maximum aid intensity:

(a) 50 % of eligible investments in less-favoured areas or in areas referred to in Article 36(a)(i), (ii) and (iii) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, as designated by Member States in accordance with Articles 50 and 94 of that Regulation;

(b) 40 % of eligible investments in other regions;

(c) 60 % of eligible investments in less-favoured areas or in areas referred to in Article 36(a)(i), (ii) and (iii) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, as designated by Member States in accordance with Articles 50 and 94 of that Regulation, and 50 % in other regions, in the case of investments made by young farmers within five years of setting up;

(d) 75 % of eligible investments in regions referred to under (a) and 60 % in other regions where investments result in extra costs relating to the protection and improvement of the environment, the improvement of hygiene conditions of livestock enterprises or the welfare of farm animals. This increase may be granted only for investments which go beyond the minimum Community requirements in force, or for investments made to comply with newly introduced minimum standards. The increase must be limited to extra eligible costs that are necessary and must not apply in the case of investments which result in an increase in production capacity.

The maximum amount of aid granted to an individual enterprise must not exceed EUR 400 000 over any period of three fiscal years, or EUR 500 000 if the enterprise is situated in a less-favoured area or in an area referred to in Article 36(a)(i), (ii) or (iii) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, as designated by Member States in accordance with Articles 50 and 94 of that Regulation

Date of implementation: September 2007

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

Objective of the aid: Investment projects of small and medium-sized enterprises active in the primary production of agricultural products, focusing on investment in agricultural enterprises, under Article 4 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 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

Economic sector(s) concerned: Primary production of agricultural products (Annex I to the Treaty establishing the European Community)

Name and address of the granting authority:

Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa, a. s. Mamateyova 17 SK-850 05 Bratislava 55

Website: http://www.vszp.sk/showdoc.do?docid=483

Further information: —

Aid No: XA 255/07

Member State: Slovak Republic

Region: —

Title of aid scheme: Schéma štátnej pomoci na založenie a vedenie plemennej knihy a plemenárskej evidencie stáda

Legal basis: The legal bases for the granting of aid are:

§ 4 nariadenia vlády SR č. 369/2007 Z. z. z 8. augusta 2007 o niektorých podporných opatreniach v pôdohospodárstve,

zákon č. 231/1999 Z. z. o štátnej pomoci v znení neskorších predpisov,

Article 16(1)(a) and (3) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 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

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme: The anticipated volume of funding under the scheme for 2007 is SKK 22 million.

The anticipated volume of funding under the scheme for each year from 2008 onwards is SKK 30 million.

The total budget anticipated for the establishment and maintenance of herd-books and herd breeding records during the period 2008-2013 is SKK 180 million

Maximum aid intensity: Aid may be granted to livestock farmers at a rate of up to 100 % of the value of subsidised services for the establishment and maintenance of herd-books and herd-breeding records. The subsidy applies only to the administrative costs of establishing and maintaining herd-books and herd-breeding records

Date of implementation: September 2007

Duration of scheme: Until 31 December 2013

Objective of aid: The objective of the aid is to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the livestock-farming sector

Economic sector(s) concerned: Primary production of agricultural products listed in Annex I to the EC Treaty

Name and address of the granting authority: Granting authority:

Ministerstvo pôdohospodárstva SR

Dobrovičova ulica 12

SK-812 66 Bratislava

Tel.: (421-2) 59 26 61 11

Website: http://www.land.gov.sk/index.php?navID=153&id=410

Scheme administrator:

Pôdohospodárska platobná agentúra (paying agency)

Dobrovičova ulica 12

SK-815 26 Bratislava

Tel.: (421-2) 59 26 61 11

Website: http://www.land.gov.sk/apa/index.php?p=DP_metpok

Other information: State aid is granted in the form of subsidised services, via a recognised stock-farming organisation or an accredited breeders' organisation.

Grants are applied for by recognised stock-farming organisations or accredited breeders' organisations. Applications for grants are submitted, in response to an invitation issued by the paying agency, by 31 January of the relevant calendar year, to the paying agency's head office. In 2007, applications are to be submitted by 30 September.

On the basis of the applications received, the paying agency adds together all the eligible grant applications received in the relevant calendar year. If the total for such applications exceeds the amount of funding available in the budget, the paying agency sets a conversion coefficient by means of which the grant entitlement is re-calculated for each eligible applicant.

Aid may be granted, pursuant to Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 70/2001, to small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the livestock sector, to cover up to 100 % of the administrative costs of establishing and maintaining herd records.

Grants will be made on the basis of a grant-award contract concluded between the paying agency and the applicant. The recognised stock-farming organisation or accredited breeders' organisation takes the grant received into account when providing the service, up to 100 % of the value of the service, but not exceeding the amount of the grant. The grant is calculated by multiplying the number of animals recorded at the end of the previous year by the rate set for the relevant species and breed of livestock, as specified in Annex 3 to the Government Regulation. The recognised stock-farming organisation or accredited breeders' organisation provides aid to individual breeders in the course of the relevant calendar year in the form of subsidised services.

Approved: Ľubomír Miček, Director-General, Rural Development Division, Ministry of Agriculture of the Slovak Republic