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

(2003/C 32/03)

(Text with EEA relevance)

Aid No: XS 101/01

Member State: United Kingdom

Region: West Midlands

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: West Midlands diversifiction programme

Legal basis: the funding for this programme is provided by the UK Department of Trade and Industry under the Industrial Development Act (1982), sections 7, 8 and 11

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: this new scheme will provide funding of some GBP 13,5 million (EUR 21,4 million) over a period of three years from 1 November 2001 to 31 October 2004. This comprises UK Government funding only.

The restimated annual funding profile is as follows:

2001: GBP 0,2 million (EUR 0,3 million)

2002: GBP 5,4 million (EUR 8,6 million)

2003: GBP 5,4 million (EUR 8,6 million)

2004: GBP 2,5 million (EUR 3,9 million)

This funding will be used to support SMEs (which meet the definition set out in Annex 1 to Commission Regulation (EC) No 70/2001) located in the West Midlands region. The support offered will be for one-off and non-recurring activities in accordance with Article 5(a) of that Regulation and consultants will be selected competitively from a shortlist of three companies in accordance with the practice of UK "Business Link" organisations.

Monitoring and reporting - Records of assistance to companies will be maintaining for 10 years form the date on which individual assistance is granted and appropriate information will be notified to the Commission on an annual basis in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 70/2001. In addition, all other requirements of Article 9 (in particular, the maintenance of such records as will allow compliance with Article 9(2) will be fulfilled.

The award of grants will be monitored by local Business link organisations under a framework set out by the granting authority. These organisations are already familiar with the application of the de minimis ceiling and the requirement to ensure that aid from different sources is not awarded such that individual SMEs exceed the rolling three-year threshold. The provisions of Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 will be clarified and the records kept by the Business links will be examined to ensure that they are sufficient and correctly maintained

Maximum aid intensity: the maximum aid intensity will be 50 %; the maximum amount available to any one company will be GBP 100000 (EUR 159000) over the three-year period

Date of implementation: 1 November 2001

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: three years

Objective of aid: the economy of the West Midlands region relies heavily on traditional manufacturing sectors such as automotive components. Companies in these sectors are vulnerable, particularly to changes in sourcing patterns as low-cost products are re-sourced, typically from central Europe and the Far East.

The West Midlands diversifaction programme seeks to assist small and medium-sized businesses in these traditional manufacturing sectors in diversifying into new products and markets where their capabilities will allow them to achieve higher value added and thus to exploit the potential for greater profitability. Consultancy support will assist these companies in overcoming the management and resource constraints that they face. It will ensure that companies moving into new products and markets do so on the basis of a sound business plan, which is important given the risks associated with diversification. In addition, start-up companies in the manufacturing sector will be assisted in drawing up a viable business plan and understanding the characteristics of their chosen markets.

Funding of 50 % (expressed on a gross basis) will be available to businesses to help meet the cost of consultancy in areas such as market research, gaining access to development capital, business planning, meeting quality requirements in new markets and understanding diverse market sectors. Assistance will also be offered to develop the skills and capacity of these manufacturing businesses to exploit new opportunities and other specialist services such as technology transfer and rapid prototyping.

Economic sectors concerned: the sector to be supported will be "all manufacturing". The companies receiving support are typically in the subsectors of:

- plastic moulding and processing

- metal finishing and heat treatment

- machining

- surface finishing and plating

- presswork

- tool making

- rubber moulding

- forging and casting (but see note below).

The recipient companies under the West Midlands diversifaction programme manufacture and process a diverse product portfolio across many manufacturing sectors, including automotive components, which account for a significant proportion of manufacturing activity in the West Midlands. However, recipients will not include automotive OEM or first-tier suppliers, or steel manufacturing comapnies as defined in the Community framework for State aid in the motor vehicle sector (OJ C 279, 15.9.1997, p. 1) and the Steel Aid Code (Commission Decision No 2496/96/ECSC of 18 December 1996 establishing Community rules for State aid to the steel industry).

Name and address of the granting authority: Advantage West Midlands 3 Priestley Wharf

Aston Science Park

Birmingham B7 4BN United Kingdom

Other information: companies that are eligible to apply for funds from the West Midlands diversification programme may also be eligible to receive funding for process-improvement activities relating to their existing products and markets under the Accelerate action plan. This separate scheme of aid providing assistance for company improvement activities is being notified at the same time as the West Midlands diversification programme. The nature of the activities funded under the Accelerate action plan are different form those that form the subject of this application, but SMEs may, if they wish, apply to take part in both schemes.

Aid No: XS 14/02

Member State: Germany

Region: Hessen

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: guidelines issued by the Land of Hessen with a view to promoting regional development - Part II (1): Business investment

Legal basis: Gesetz zur Förderung der kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen der hessischen Wirtschaft vom 23. September 1974 (GVBl. S. 458), zuletzt geändert am 22. August 1986 (GVBl. S. 265), Förderrichtlinien zur regionalen Entwicklung

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: an amount of approx imately EUR 2,6 million is available each year from Land resources for investment grants. An amount of approximately EUR 9 million is earmarked each year for loans in Objective 2 areas

Maximum aid intensity: the maximum aid intensity for investment grants is 15 % for small firms and 7,5 % for medium-sized firms. In Objective 2 ares the assistance usually takes the form of a combination of a grant and an interest-free loan. The loan can be up to 25 % of eligible investment costs for a period of 10 years, with a three-year grace periode. The subsidy value of both measures together must not exceed the maximum aid intensity indicated above

Date of implementation: the guidelines were published in the Official Gazette (Staatsanzeiger) for the Land of Hessen on 7 January 2002

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: until 30 June 2007 in accordance with European Commission requirements

Objective of aid: in selected areas, the Hessen Investment Bank (IBH), acting on behalf of the Hessen Ministry of Economics, Transport and Regional Development, makes grants and loans to SMEs to finance particularly eligible commercial investments in SMEs within the meaning of the Commission Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 with a view to creating and safeguarding jobs

Economic sector(s) concerned: commercial enterprises

Name and address for the granting authority: InvestitionsBank Hessen AG Schumannstraße 4-6 D - 60325 Frankfurt am Main

Other information: in the regions in Hessen assisted under the joint Federal Government/Länder scheme for improving regional economic structures, large companies are also assited. This assistance is not, however, the subject of this notification; as regards the rules on State aid, it is covered by the approval of the German regional aid map and the general plan for the joint scheme.

The rules are based primarily on the Hessen Structural Assistance Programme approved by the EU Commission.

A new development is the introduction of an additional type of loan for support measures in Objective 2 areas.

Aid No: XS 86/01

Member State: Italy

Region: autonomous region of Valle d'Aosta

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: consultancy aid to SMEs, pursuant measure D3 of the regional operational programme (ROP) for structural measures taken by the region of Valle d'Aosta to meet Objective 3 in the period 2000 to 2006

Legal basis: Delibera della Giunta regionale n. 2955 del 20.8.2001

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: ITL 400 million or EUR 206582,76 a year

Maximum aid intensity: 50 % of the costs of the services supplied by external consultants. Such services must not be continuous or regular, or connected with the normal day-to-day operating expenditure of the firm, such as ordinary tax advice, legal advice and advertising costs

Date of implementation: 10 September 2001

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: until 30 September 2003

Objective of aid: the aim is to facilitate the development of SMEs in the Val d'Aosta, in particular by granting aid for consultancy services

Economic sector(s) concerned: other manufacturing industries; other services

Name and address of granting authority: Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta Dipartimento industria, artigianto ed energia Piazza della Repubblica n. 15 I - 11100 Aosta Tel. (39-01) 65 27 47 26/27 47 27 Fax (39-01) 65 23 85 29 e-mail: iae@regione.vda.it

Aid No: XS 87/01

Member State: United Kingdom

Region: England and Wales

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) - Regional Centres for Manufacturing Excellence (RCME)

Legal basis: the statutory basis enabling provision of discretionary support is as follows:

(a) Science and Technology Act 1965, section 5(1)(a) and (b): enables support for scientific research and for dissemination and practical application of its results;

(b) Industrial Development Act 1982, Parts III and IV: enables selective financial assistance and general assistance in the form of advice, information and service provision. The relevant power is section 11 of the Industrial Development Act 1982, which enables the Secretary of State to make provision for the giving of advice (whether free of charge or otherwise) to persons carrying on or proposing to carry on a business. This is the underlying enabling legislation for alle work which will be undertaken as part of the Manufacturing Advisory Service

Annual expenditure planned under the schemeor overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The MAS budget is expected to be as follows:

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Maximum aid intensity: the maximum intensity is 50 % for the consultancy element of the service, which is that part of the service constituting State aid. The maximum value of support from the RCMEs for any single SME is likely to be about GBP 7000 per year and the average is expected to be only about GBP 3000 per year

Date of implementation: the MAS initiative was announced with publication of the White Paper "Opportunity for all in a world of change" on 13 February 2001 but should not begin to incur RCME expenditure until the second half of 2001. The introduction of the full service, including the information, adivce and consultancy

support for SMEs form RCMEs (the subject of this notification), is expected to commence with the establishment of the first RCME by September/October 2001. The MAS will not be fully implemented until all the RCMEs are established and a complementary national network of centres of expertise commissioned by June 2002

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: up to 30 April 2004

Objective of aid: the key aim of this initiative is to help improve manufacturing productivity in the UK and in particular to improve the take-up of best manufacturing practices by SMEs in England and Wales. It will provide companies with information and access to best technological advice and expertise.

The MAS is intended in part to provide indirect ("soft") aid to SMEs to improve their competitiveness and the long-term profitability of their businesses by promoting a culture of buiness excellence. Individual SMEs will also benefit from the information they receive, which will in some cases extend to subsidised consultancy projects to help them introduce best-practice manufacturing operations

Economic sector(s) concerned: all manufacturing (excluding coal, steel, agriculture and export).

Name and address of the granting authority: Ron Egginton EID4a

Department of Trade and Industry

151 Buckingham Palace Road London SW1 United Kingdom

Other information: market imperfections, including levels of awareness and access to professional advice, limit the scope which companies have to improve their competitive position. Some small manufacturers, for example, can lack the resources to move their performance beyond the level needed for day-to-day survival. SMEs therefore need a convenient, easily available and affordable source of information and advice on technology and related management/training issues in a knowledge-intensive economy, but traditional sources of information and advice such as consultants, universities and research and technology organisations (RTOs) will not appeal to many SMEs because of either their prohibitive costs or the perceived difficulty of accessing them. Relations between academia and many engineering SMEs are not good. The Government already does fund the provision of general advisory support services to business through Business links, because by helping individual businesses to succeed, grow and be well placed to continue developing without further assistance, the UK's overall competitiveness as a nation can be improved. However, the availability of information and advisory support focused on the needs specific to manufacturers is currently lacking.

The programme is designed to complement other programmes. Sector-based programmes such as "Industry Fora" have been established to improve the productivity of particular manufacturing sectors. The MAS and RCMEs will utilise and not duplicate these complementary activities, but, in other instances, it is more appropriate to focus on the needs of the individual firm on a regional basis to provide extra accessibility. Without detracting from the role of Business links in providing general advice to individual firms, manufacturers need more specific information and advice on manufacturing issues, tailored to the firm's operational environment and based on credible experience of the latest technologies and well-understood best-practice methodologies.

Aid No: XS 88/01

Member State: Spain

Region: autonomous Community of La Rioja

Title of aid schme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: aid to investment in SMEs providing industry-related services

Legal basis: Resolución de 14 de septiembre de 2001, del Presidente de la Agencia de Desarrollo Económico de La Rioja, adopting the legal bases for granting investment aid to industry-related service SMEs (published in the Official Journal of La Rioja, 25 September 2001)

Annual expenditure planned under the schemeor overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: ESP 125000000 (EUR 751265,13)

Maximum aid intensity: - 30 % for small enterprises (15 % if not covered by the regional aid map),

- 20 % for medium-sized enterprises (7,5 % if not covered by the regional aid map)

Date of implementation: as of 25 September 2001

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: 2001-2006

Objective of aid: to promote the provision of ancillary services to industry so as to boost industrial activity, economic development and regional competitiveness while ensuring that stable jobs are created. It should be be stressed here that the service sector has accounted for most of the net growth in employment in the EU over the last few years.

Economic sector(s) concerned: service secotr (with some exceptions).

Name and address of the granting authority: Agencia de Desarrollo Económico de la Rioja (ADER) C/ Muro de la Mata, 13-14 E - 26071 Logroño ( La Rioja )

Other information: this is a new aid scheme.

Aid No: XS 92/01

Member State: Netherlands

Region: North Netherlands (Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe)

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individualaid: Sport en Recreatiecentrum Thialf BV

Legal basis: Beschikking d.d. 9 oktober 2001 van het Dagelijks Bestuur van het Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland, zijnde een openbaar lichaam op grond van de Wet Gemeenschappelijke Regelingen

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid grantd to the company: the decision of the day-to-day management of the North Netherlands Cooperation Association ("Dagelijks Bestuur van het Samenwerkingsverband Noord-nederland") concerns the contribution to the project's investment costs of an amount of EUR 984120 from EZ/Kompass funds (i.e. approximately 12,7 % of the total eligible costs) under the 2000 to 2006 regional economic development programme for North Netherlands entitled "Compass for the North". The total Government contribution to the project's invstment costs is EUR 2254065 (i.e. approximately 29,2 % of the total eligible costs)

Maximum aid intensity: 29,2 %

Date of implementation: 9 October 2001

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: date on which the final instalment will be paid: August 2002

Objective of aid: to contribute to investments in the extension and technical revitalisation of the Thialf skating rink in Heerenveen. The project aims to create a sporting facility the public character of which will be guaranted for a period of five years after the definitive fixing of the aid via an automatic transfer provision

Economic sector(s) concerned: all sectors

Name and address of the granting authority: Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland p/a Postbus 779 9700 AT Groningen Nederland

Other information: this measure concerned ad hoc aid for investments in fixed assets by a small, independent enterprise as defined in Annex I to 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.