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

Cases where the Commission raises no objections

(2003/C 16/02)

Date of adoption of the decision: 12.12.2002

Member State: Italy (Autonomous Province of Trento)

Aid No: N 301/02

Title: Measures connected to the 2002 financial exercise

Objective: - Aid to compensate farmers for losses due to adverse weather, through the cooperatives to which they belong

- Agri-environmental aid

Legal basis: Articoli 91 e 97 della Legge provinciale 19 febbraio 2002, n. 1

Budget: Article 91: EUR 1800000 in the 2003 budget; Article 97: EUR 800000 in the 2003 budget

Aid intensity or amount: Article 91: 60 % of actual losses suffered by farmers who are members of cooperatives; Article 97: depending on the crop, the additional cost due to using environmentally-sound products

Duration: Five years (1 January 2001-31 December 2005)

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: 11.12.2002

Member State: Italy (Sicily)

Aid No: N 590/A/01

Title: Provisions relating to the implementation of the 2000-2006 Regional Operational Programme and the restructuring of aid schemes

Objective: To pay compensatory payments to farmers in less-favoured areas in Sicily

Legal basis: Legge Regionale n. 32/2000, articolo 123: Disposizioni per l'attuazione del POR 2000-2006 e di riordino di regimi di aiuto

Budget: Around EUR 60 million

Aid intensity or amount: Variable

Duration: Until the end of 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: 12.12.2002

Member State: France

Aid No: N 625/02

Title: Aid in the perfume, aromatic and medicinal plants sector

Objective: To support research and experimentation, technical assistance and promotion measures, and promote the launch of producer organisations

Budget: - Aid for research and experimentation: EUR 400000 per year;

- Technical assistance: EUR 150000 per year;

- Start-up aid for producer organisations: EUR 100000 per year;

- Promotion measures: EUR 300000 per year

Aid intensity or amount: Varies according to the measure

Duration: Five years

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: 12.12.2002

Member State: France

Aid No: N 723/02

Title: State-region planning contracts: aid in the perfume, aromatic and medicinal plants sector

Objective: To support producers of perfume plants by means of research and experimentation and technical assistance measures, and development of high-quality products

Budget: EUR 525000 per year

Aid intensity or amount: Varies according to the measure

Duration: 2002-2006

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: 12.12.2002

Member State: Denmark

Aid No: N 608/02

Title: Fund for Ecological Agriculture

Objective: The purpose of the Fund for Ecological Agriculture is to promote ecological agricultural production by providing support for marketing, research and experimentation, product development, consultation, training, preventative sanitary measures, sanity control and special measures approved by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries

Legal basis: - Lov om administration af EU's forordninger om fælles markedsordninger for landbrugsprodukter

- Foreningsvedtægter for Fonden for Økologisk Landbrug

- Cirkulærer om produktion og Promillefonden for Landbrug og Havebrug

- Revisionsinstrukser om produktion og Promillefonden for Landbrug og Havebrug

Budget: DKK 5 Million (EUR 673000) for 2002

Aid intensity or amount: 80 % of the costs for all measures; except for marketing measures, where the aid intensity is 50 %

Duration: Unlimited

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: 12.12.2002

Member State: Germany

Aid No: N 666/02

Title: Promotion of consulting of agricultural and horticultural enterprises

Objective: Consulting services are subsidised for agricultural and horticultural enterprises in Lower Saxony in order to support the development of sustainable, environment- and animal-friendly production in agriculture and horticulture as well as the conversion to the ecological agriculture and horticulture

Legal basis: Landeshaushaltsordnung Niedersachsen, Entwurf einer Richtlinie über die Gewährung von Zuwendungen zur Förderung der landwirtschaftlichen Beratung und von Leistungsprüfungen in der tierischen Erzeugung

Budget: EUR 2800000 per year

Aid intensity or amount: 70 % of the costs of the consulting services but not more than EUR 100000 per undertaking within a period of three years

Duration: 2002-2006

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: 11.12.2002

Member State: Italy (Sicilia)

Aid No: NN 37/98 (ex N 808/97) and NN 138/02

Title: Article 11 of Regional Law n. 40/1997 (Aid NN 37/98) and Article 7 of Regional Law n. 22/1999 (Aid NN 138/02): aids for animal diseases

Objective: Compensation for animal diseases and allowances for the related veterinary costs

Legal basis: Articolo 11 (Interventi per la zootecnia) della Legge 7 novembre 1997, n. 40. Variazioni al bilancio della Regione ed al bilancio dell'Azienda delle foreste demaniali della regione siciliana per l'anno finanziario 1997 - Assestamento. Modifica dell'articolo 49 della legge regionale 7 agosto 1997, n. 30; Articolo 7 (Interventi per il risanamento degli allevamenti zootecnici) della Legge 28 settembre 1999, n. 22. Interventi urgenti per il settore agricolo

Budget: The budget envisaged by Article 11 of Law n. 40/97 amounts to ITL 16000 million (± EUR 8263310); the budget envisaged by Article 7 of Law n. 22/99 amounts to ITL 20000 million (± EUR 10329138)

Aid intensity or amount: Compensation: 50 % of the damage suffered by the owners of the animals. Allowance for veterinary expenses: undetermined

Duration: Compensations for the animals suppressed because of tubercolosis, brucellosis, and leucosis in the years 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997, and the related veterinary allowances

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: 13.12.2002

Member State: Belgium

Aid No: N 257/02

Title: Draft Royal Decree on the obligatory contributions to the Budgetary Fund for the health and quality of livestock and animal products, as fixed on the basis of the health risks associated with bovine animal holdings

Objective: To finance the slaughter premiums that are part of statutory animal disease prevention and the controls relating to the improvement of hygiene, health and the quality of livestock and animal products

Legal basis: Koninklijk besluit betreffende de verplichte bijdragen aan het Begrotingsfonds voor de kwaliteit van de dieren en de dierlijke producten, vastgesteld volgens de sanitaire risisco's verbonden aan bedrijven waar runderen gehouden worden

Projet d'arrêté royal relatif aux cotisations obligatoires au fonds budgétaire pour la santé et la qualité des animaux et des produits animaux, fixées en fonction des risques sanitaires liés aux entreprises détenant des bovins

Budget: EUR 25827000 in 2002

Aid intensity or amount: Up to 100 %

Duration: Unspecified

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: 13.12.2002

Member State: Austria

Aid No: N 621/02

Title: Financial aid for the purchase of forage and forage replacement products to agricultural and forestry enterprises having sustained damage due to the exceptional weather conditions

Objective: To compensate for the drought and flood damage to the forage production of livestock farms during 2002 Austria proposes to grant the following aid towards purchasing roughage or roughage substitute:

- EUR 6 per 100 kg of hay purchased

- EUR 3 per 100 kg silage balls purchased

- EUR 12 per each corn/grass silage ball purchased

- EUR 262 per ha of corn on the cob (/Mais am Stamm) purchased

- EUR 1 per 100 kg of silage purchased

- EUR 2 per 100 kg of feeding straw purchased

- EUR 6 per 100 kg of roughage replacement product purchased

- EUR 4 per 100 kg dry forage purchased

The forage purchased must be intended to replace a shortfall in the beneficiary's own forage production. Livestock farmers with no forage area and sellers of roughage or its substitutes will receive no aid under the draft directive. The aid is granted as a one-off measure and only upon presentation of the proof of purchase completed in the period between 1 May 2002 and 31 January 2003

Legal basis: Sonderrichtlinie des Bundesministers für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft (BMLFUW) für eine finanzielle Hilfe zum Zukauf von Raufutter und Raufutterersatzprodukten in von außergewöhnlichen klimatischen Umständen geschädigten land- und forstwirtschaftlichen Betrieben

Budget: Available resources at the time of the notification: EUR 5,4 million. Actual expenses are not yet foreseeable

Aid intensity or amount: The maximum amount of aid per holding is EUR 150 for each hectare of forage area. Minimum payable aid amount is EUR 150 per holding and the aid may not exceed EUR 3000 per holding

Duration: One-off measure

Other information: The flooding in central Europe in the summer 2002 was exceptional in the kind of the event, its special intensity and its extreme damage. Without doubt the flooding can be classified as natural disaster. The Austrian authorities have submitted appropriate information on the weather conditions and their impact on agricultural production during 2002

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: 13.12.2002

Member State: Germany

Aid No: N 682/02

Title: Aid programme of the Federal Government (Bund) and the Länder in the form of an 80 % release from liability for loans from the Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank for liquidity aid and for investments in agricultural and forestry holdings that were necessary due to the consequences of the flood 2002

Objective: Recovery assistance to companies in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector, which are affected by the flood 2002

Legal basis: - Verwaltungsvereinbarung zwischen Bund und Ländern über die Beteiligung der Länder an einer achtzigprozentigen Haftungsfreistellung für Kredite der Landwirtschaftlichen Rentenbank für Liquiditätshilfen sowie Investitionen in land- und forstwirtschaftlichen Betrieben, die durch die Folgen des Hochwassers 2002 notwendig wurden, vom 26. August 2002

- Vertrag zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Landwirtschaftlichen Rentenbank (LR) über die Abwicklung einer 80 %-Haftungsfreistellung für die Hausbanken im Rahmen des LR-Sonderprogramms Hochwasser für land- und forstwirtschaftliche Antragsteller

Budget: EUR 8,2 Millions

Aid intensity or amount: 8,2 % of the loans granted

Duration: 2003-2022

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