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 237/03)

(Text with EEA relevance)

Aid No: XT 63/02

Member State: United Kingdom

Region: West Midlands

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: Birmingham and Solihull Learning and Skills Council Tourism Training Project (Obj2/02/9/1.11) 2002-06

Legal basis: - Employment Act 1973, Sections 2(1) and 2(2), as substantiated by Section 25 of the Employment and Training Act 1998 and the Industrial Development Act 1982, Sections 7, 8 and 11

- Section 2 of the Local Government Act 2000

- Learning and Skill Act 2000

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: Total amount of state aid granted to SMEs: UKL 1337142

- 2002: UKL 745839

- 2003: UKL 591303

Maximum aid intensity: SMEs will qualify for up to 75 % of training costs.

589 SMEs will be assisted. They are all situated in Art. 87(3)(c) areas.

For any one SME the total aid will not exceed EUR 1000000

Date of implementation: 1 September 2002

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: 31 December 2003

Objective of aid: To give general training in order to improve the skills of individuals working for SMEs in the tourism sector that are based in Art. 87(3)(c) areas, with the overarching aim of improving the general economic productivity of the assisted area.

Training supported under this programme will be general training to accredited national standards such as NVQ and will be transferable between economic sectors (see attached background documentation)

Economic sector(s) concerned: Other services: tourism, without prejudice to the regulations on sensitive sectors

Name and address of the granting authority: Paul Cornick

Sector Coordinator

Birmingham and Solihull LSC Chaplin Court

80 Hurst Street

Birmingham B5 4TG United Kingdom Tel. (0121) 345 46 21

Other information: The organisations involved in delivering the training in this project are colleges, which are funded by the public sector and act as a conduit of funds to SMEs. The only exception to this is for core skills, which are delivered by both colleges and private training providers who have won a competitive tender to carry out this project

Aid No: XT 100/02

Member State: Spain

Region: Autonomous Community of the Basque Country

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: Aid scheme for in-service training in enterprises

Legal basis: Acuerdo de 25.9.2002 del pleno del Patronato de Hobetuz (Fundación Vasca para la Formación Profesional Continua), por el que se aprueba la Convocatoria de Ayudas a la Formación Continua dirigida a Empresas para el año 2002 (Boletín Oficial del País Vasco de 1.10.2002)

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 16400000

Maximum aid intensity: Provision is made for four maximum intensities, depending on the nature of the training offered (general or specific) and the size of the firm concerned (SME or non-SME): 30 %-40 %-55 %-75 %

Date of implementation: November 2002

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: December 2002

Objective of aid: The objective of the aid scheme is the funding of training plans, which can involve training of any kind

Economic sector(s) concerned: All sectors

Name and address of granting authority: Hobetuz, Fundación Vasca para la Formación Profesional Continua Gran Vía 35 - 6o E - 48009 Bilbao