Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty

Cases where the Commission raises no objections

(2003/C 154/08)

(Text with EEA relevance)

Date of adoption of the decision: 21.1.2003

Member State: France

Aid No: E 50/01

Title: Guarantee of CDC to CDC IXIS

Objective: Permit CDC IXIS to continue operating under the same conditions as when the activity was lodged within the CDC legal structure

Legal basis: Guarantee agreement contracted between CDC and CDC IXIS effective from 1 January 2001

Budget: Unlimited in amount

Form of interventions: State guarantees

Aid intensity or amount: Not quantified

Duration: Unlimited in time

The authentic text(s) of the decision, from which all confidential information has been removed, can be found at

http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids

Date of adoption of the decision: 27.5.2003

Member State: Denmark

Aid No: N 482/01

Title: Danish scheme on loan loss provisions for credit institutions

Objective: Financial sector

Legal basis: Section 25(6) of the Danish Exchange Gains Act

Budget: unknown

Aid intensity or amount: "measure not constituting aid"

Duration: Undefined

The authentic text(s) of the decision, from which all confidential information has been removed, can be found at

http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids

Date of adoption of the decision: 22.4.2003

Member State: Germany (Saarland)

Aid No: N 115/03

Title: Regional aid scheme of Saarland in favour of SMEs

Objective: To favour investment and job creation

Legal basis: Regionales Förderprogramm des Saarlandes für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen der gewerblichen Wirtschaft (einschließlich Tourismus)

Budget: Euro 5,5 million a year

Aid intensity or amount: maximum 15 % gross in the case of small firms; maximum 7,5 % in the case of medium-sized firms

Duration: Until 31 December 2006

The authentic text(s) of the decision, from which all confidential information has been removed, can be found at

http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids

Date of adoption of the decision: 13.3.2003

Member State: United Kingdom (Wales)

Aid No: N 28/03

Title: WDA R & D scheme

Objective: To encourage enterprises to undertake innovative research and technological development with commercial potential in Wales. To encourage industry collaborations with other industrial partners and with research base organisations (both public and private) in carrying out industrial research and pre-competitive development activities

Legal basis: Welsh Development Agency Act 1975

Budget: GBP 36 million (EUR 55 million), of which about GBP 10 million (EUR 15 million) in 2003/2004, GBP 12 million (EUR 18,5 million) in 2004/2005 and GBP 14 million (EUR 21,5 million) in 2005/2006

Aid intensity or amount: For industrial research: maximum 50 %; for pre-competitive development: maximum 25 %; for technical feasibility studies preparatory to industrial research: maximum 75 %; for studies preparatory to precompetitive development activities: maximum 50 %; the aid intensity can be increased by maximum:

- 10 percentage points, as the aid is to be given to SME's,

- 10 percentage points, as the aid is to be given to enterprises in assisted Areas 87(3)(a),

- 5 percentage points, as the aid is to be given to enterprises in assisted Areas 87(3)(c),

- 15 or 25 percentage points where a research project is in accordance with a specific project or programme undertaken as part of the Community's framework programme for R & D,

- 10 percentage points where a research project is not in accordance with a specific project or programme undertaken as part of the Community's framework programme for R & D but has specific cooperation elements or spread of results.

Altogether, including top-ups, not exceeding 75 % for industrial research and 50 % for pre-competitive development

Duration: 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2006

Other information: The scheme will subsume SMART Wales, SPUR and SPURPLUS (State aid N 115/98)

The authentic text(s) of the decision, from which all confidential information has been removed, can be found at

http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids