EN Official Journal of the European Union L 324/38

EFTA SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY DECISION

No 95/06/COL

of 19 April 2006

amending, for the fifty-eighth time the Procedural and Substantive Rules in the field of State Aid

THE EFTA SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY,

HAVING REGARD TO the Agreement on the European Economic Area (1), in particular to Articles 61 to 63 and Protocol 26 thereof,

HAVING REGARD TO the Agreement between the EFTA States on the establishment of a Surveillance Authority and a Court of Justice (2), in particular to Article 24 and Article 5(2)(b) thereof and Article 1 in Part I of Protocol 3 thereof,

WHEREAS under Article 24 of the Surveillance and Court Agreement, the EFTA Surveillance Authority shall give effect to the provisions of the EEA Agreement concerning State aid,

WHEREAS under Article 5(2)(b) of the Surveillance and Court Agreement the EFTA Surveillance Authority shall issue notices or guidelines on matters dealt with in the EEA Agreement, if that Agreement or the Surveillance and Court Agreement expressly so provides or if the EFTA Surveillance Authority considers it necessary,

RECALLING the Procedural and Substantive Rules in the Field of State Aid (3) adopted on 19 January 1994 by the EFTA Surveillance Authority (4),

WHEREAS the European Commission adopted amendments to its Communication on short-term export credit insurance (5),

WHEREAS these amendments to the Communication are also of relevance for the European Economic Area,

WHEREAS a uniform application of the EEA State aid rules is to be ensured throughout the European Economic Area,

WHEREAS according to point II under the heading ‘GENERAL’ at the end of Annex XV to the EEA Agreement, the EFTA Surveillance Authority is to adopt, after consultation with the Commission, acts corresponding to those adopted by the European Commission,

HAVING consulted the European Commission,

RECALLING that the EFTA Surveillance Authority has consulted the EFTA States by letter dated 7 February 2006 on the subject,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Chapter 17A of the State Aid Guidelines, ‘Short-term export credit insurance’ shall be amended as follows:

1a) Footnote 1 shall be replaced by the following: ‘This chapter corresponds to the Communication of the Commission to the Member States pursuant to Article 93(1) of the EC Treaty applying Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty to short-term exportcredit insurance (OJ C 281, 17.9.1997, p. 4), amended by the Commission in 2001 (OJ C 217, 2.8.2001, p. 2), last amended in 2005 (OJ C 325, 22.12.2005, p. 22).’

1b) A new paragraph shall be inserted as 17A.2(8) with the following text: ‘Notwithstanding the definition of “marketable” risks contained in the first sentence of the previous paragraph, if and to the extent that no private insurance market exists in an EFTA State, commercial and political risks incurred on public and non-public debtors established in the countries listed in the Annex are considered to be temporarily non-marketable if incurred by small and medium-sized enterprises falling within the relevant EEA definition (6) and having a total annual export turnover not exceeding EUR 2 million (7). In such circumstances, a public or publicly supported exportcredit insurer shall, as far as possible, align its premium rates for such “non-marketable” risks with the rates charged elsewhere by exportcredit insurers for the type of risk in question, namely taking into account the limited spread of foreign buyers, the characteristics of the insured enterprises, and the associated costs. EFTA States intending to submit a notification to the Authority on the application of this clause shall be subject to the same procedure and the same conditions as set out in Section 17A.4 (8-13) below for the application of the escape clause. The Authority reserves the right to discontinue this clause or to revise the conditions of its application in consultation with EFTA States if it finds that the capacity of the private insurance market in this segment changes during the period of validity of this Chapter.

1c) The current paragraphs 17A.2(8)-(9) shall be renumbered to become 17A.2(9)-(10).

1d) The old paragraph 17A.2(10) shall be replaced by a new paragraph 17A.2(11) with the following text: ‘The capacity of the private reinsurance market varies. This means that the definition of marketable risks is not immutable and may change over time. The definition may, therefore, be reviewed, notably at the expiry of this Chapter. The Authority will consult EFTA States’ representatives with relevant experience in this field and other interested parties on such reviews. In so far as necessary, changes to the definition will have to take account of the scope of EEA legislation governing exportcredit insurance, in order to avoid any conflict or legal uncertainty.’

1e) Paragraph 17A.4(14) shall be replaced by the following: ‘These Guidelines will apply until 31 December 2010.’

Article 2

The EFTA States shall be informed by means of a letter, including a copy of this Decision.

Article 3

The European Commission shall be informed, in accordance with point (d) of Protocol 27 of the EEA Agreement, by means of a copy of this Decision.

Article 4

The Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of and in the EEA Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 5

These amendments will apply from the date of adoption of this decision.

Done at Brussels, 19 April 2006. For the EFTA Surveillance Authority Bjørn T. GRYDELAND President Kurt JÄGER College Member

(1) Hereinafter referred to as the ‘EEA Agreement’.

(2) Hereinafter referred to as the ‘Surveillance and Court Agreement’.

(3) Hereinafter referred to as the ‘State Aid Guidelines’.

(4) Initially published in OJ L 231, 3.9.1994, and in the EEA Supplement thereto No 32 on the same date, last amendment adopted by Decision No 94/06/COL of 19 April 2006 (not yet published).

(5) OJ C 325, 22.12.2005, p. 22.

(6) See Chapter 10 of the State Aid Guidelines concerning the definition of small and medium-sized enterprises (not yet published). Chapter 10 of the State Aid Guidelines corresponds to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 (OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36).

(7) The calculation of the relevant annual export turnover will be effected according to Section 10.2.4 in Chapter 10 of the State Aid Guidelines. The provisions laid down in paragraph 32 in Chapter 10 of the State Aid Guidelines will apply mutatis mutandis with respect to the annual export turnover of the relevant enterprise.’