EN Official Journal of the European Union C 307/14

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

2010/C 307/07

Aid No: XA 166/10

Member State: France

Region: Département des Hautes-Pyrénées

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Aides du département des Hautes-Pyrénées aux investissements en matériels des coopératives d’utilisation de matériel en commun (CUMA).

Legal basis:

— Articles L 1511-1 et suivants du code général des collectivités territoriales

— Délibération du Conseil général des Hautes-Pyrénées

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 130 000

Maximum aid intensity: Twenty per cent of the investments will be used to purchase heavy traction equipment, soil preparation equipment or equipment enabling environmentally sound practices and 10 % to purchase other tools.

Date of implementation: From the date of publication of the registration number of the exemption request on the website of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development.

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Up to 31 December 2013

Objective of aid: The objective of this aid is to promote the joint procurement of equipment for agricultural holdings. The holdings in the Hautes-Pyrénées are small in size (averaging 23 hectares) and are unable to obtain all the necessary equipment on their own. This aid should improve the overall income of the holding, reduce production costs and help improve working, environmental and hygiene conditions through more efficient equipment.

All new equipment intended for cultivation and animal husbandry is eligible for aid. Such equipment includes: equipment for harvesting, hay conditioning, soil preparation, traction, cereal harvesting, maintenance of farm access and roads, restraining animals, etc.

These measures are subject to Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 2006, and the cooperative will ensure that the relevant requirements of the Community instrument are complied with.

Aid will therefore be paid exclusively to:

farms whose size does not exceed that of an SME as defined in Community law (cf. Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008OJ L 214, 9.8.2008),

farms that are enterprises active in the primary production of agricultural products,

farms that are not enterprises in difficulty within the meaning of the Community guidelines on State aid for the rescue and restructuring of companies in difficulty (OJ C 244, 1.10.2004).

The maximum amount of aid must not exceed the ceiling referred to in Article 4, point 9, of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.

Sector(s) concerned: Agriculture, all sectors

The aid is open to all CUMAs, irrespective of their sector of activity, provided that they comply with the definition of SMEs within the meaning of the Community legislation.

Name and address of the granting authority:

Conseil général des Hautes-Pyrénées 6 rue Gaston Manent 65000 Tarbes FRANCE

Website: http://www.cg65.fr/front.aspx?publiId=321

Other information: —

Aid No: XA 167/10

Member State: France

Region: Département des Hautes-Pyrénées

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Aides à l’assistance technique et aides destinées à encourager la production de produits agricoles de qualité du département des Hautes-Pyrénées.

Legal basis: Articles L 1511-1 et suivants du code général des collectivités territoriales;

Délibération du Conseil général des Hautes-Pyrénées;

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 300 000

Maximum aid intensity: 80 %

Date of implementation: From the date of publication of the registration number of the exemption request on the website of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development

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

Objective of aid: The objective of this aid is to encourage technical support operations, including sales promotional activities that might be useful for the agricultural sector of the department, regardless of the type of production. However, priority will be given to actions aimed at quality products and actions carried out in the chain of distribution. The aid will be granted to agricultural development bodies responsible for these activities (chambers of agriculture, interbranch associations, etc.).

Some of the activities will target the financing of market surveys, the preparation of documents related to applications for recognition and the organisation of promotional activities (fairs, exhibitions) in order to encourage high-quality agriculture by supporting products that bear an official quality mark or are in the process of being recognised.

Other activities will be to promote the distribution of knowledge and the sharing of experiences and data among farmers and to provide advice on new or highly specialised products (e.g. products bearing an official quality mark, organically produced products).

In the department of Hautes-Pyrénées, the main products bearing an official quality mark are: Haricot Tarbais (PGI and red label), mouton Barèges-Gavarnie (registered designation of origin and PDO), Agneau des Pyrénées (red label), Bœuf Blond d’Aquitaine (red label), Jambon de Bayonne (PGI), Produit Jambon Noir de Bigorre (COC), Vin de Madiran and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh (registered designation of origin), Canard à foie gras du Sud Ouest (PGI). The necessary procedures have been launched to obtain an official quality mark for certain other products, such as Oignon Doux de Trébons and Poule Gascogne.

The levels of aid granted by the departmental council (Conseil général) will vary from 10 to 80 %.

The purpose of the aid from the departmental council is to support the activities during a limited period of time.

Aid will be paid exclusively to:

farms whose size does not exceed that of an SME as defined in Community law (cf. Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008OJ L 214, 9.8.2008),

farms that are enterprises active in the primary production of agricultural products,

farms that are not enterprises in difficulty within the meaning of the Community guidelines on State aid for the rescue and restructuring of companies in difficulty (OJ C 244, 1.10.2004).

Pursuant to Article 14, point 6, and Article 15, point 4, of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 2006, the departmental council ensures that the aid is accessible to every eligible farmer from the department of Hautes-Pyrénees without any obligation to join a group or other organisation and that any contribution is limited to the costs of providing the service.

Sector(s) concerned: agricultural holdings (SMEs)

Name and address of the granting authority:

Conseil général des Hautes-Pyrénées 6 rue Gaston Manent 65000 Tarbes FRANCE

Website: http://www.cg65.fr/front.aspx?publiId=321

Other information: —

Aid No: XA 171/10

Member State: France

Region: Départements d'Outre-mer (DOM)

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Aides aux groupements de producteurs dans les départements d'Outre-mer (DOM)

Legal basis:

— Articles L621-1 à L621-11, articles R621-1 à R621-43 et articles R684-1 à R684-12 du code rural

— Article 9 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006

— Projet de décision du directeur de l'ODEADOM

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 2 300 000 (between several groups of beneficiaries)

Maximum aid intensity: Up to 95 % (but not more than EUR 400 000 per beneficiary for the entire period). Furthermore, aid will be degressive each year, decreasing by 5 percentage points per year.

Date of implementation: On receipt of an acknowledgement of receipt from the Commission.

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

Objective of aid: This aid is intended for producer groups in the French overseas departments and is financed from the budget of the Office de développement de l’économie agricole d’Outre-mer (ODEADOM) (the overseas departments agricultural economy development office). The aid cannot be combined with any similar aid financed by the POSEI France programme.

The purpose of the aid will be to facilitate the establishment of producer groups and to launch their activities. Eventually, the establishment and successful launch of these groups should facilitate producers’ technological and economic modernisation, help them adapt to market demands, strengthen producers’ negotiating power when dealing with organised distribution centres and make farmers more professional.

This aid concerns the actions listed in Article 9 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006, in particular rental of suitable premises, purchase of office equipment, including computer hardware and software, administrative costs (including staff), overheads and other expenses. If premises are purchased, the eligible expenses for premises must be limited to rental costs at market rates.

Sector(s) concerned: Fruit and vegetables (subsistence and market-garden crops, roots and tubers, fresh fruit, citrus fruit, dry fruit), semi-permanent fruit crops, viticulture, horticulture, herbs, medicinal plants, plants used for perfume extraction, stimulant plants and rice.

Ruminants and intensive production sector.

Name and address of the granting authority:

ODEADOM 12 rue Henri Rol-Tanguy TSA 60006 93555 Montreuil Cedex FRANCE

Website: http://www.odeadom.fr/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/100817-groupements-de-producteurs.pdf

Other information: The proposed scheme will enable the continuation of scheme XA 110/08 with an annual budget that is better adapted to the needs of producer groups in overseas departments.