Information from the Commission - Draft Commission Regulation on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to de minimis aid
Date: 2000-03-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, European Commission, State aid, aid system, aid to undertakings, application of EU law

C 89/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.3.2000

DRAFT COMMISSION REGULATION ON THE APPLICATION OF ARTICLES 87 AND 88 OF THE EC TREATY
TO DE MINIMIS AID

(2000/C 89/06)

Invitation to submit comments on the draft Commission Regulation on the application of Articles 87 and
88 of the EC Treaty to de minimis aid.

Interested parties may submit their comments within one month of the date of publication of this draft
Regulation to:

European Commission
Directorate-General for Competition
Directorate G
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200
B-1049 Brussels
Fax (32-2) 296 98 13.

Draft Commission Regulation on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to de
minimis aid

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 994/98 of 7 May
1998 on the application of Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty
establishing the European Community to certain categories of
horizontal State aid (1), and in particular Article 2 thereof,

Having published a draft of this Regulation (2),

Having consulted the Advisory Committee on State Aid,

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EC) No 994/98 empowers the Commission to
in a regulation a threshold under which aid
set out
the criteria of
measures are deemed not
Article 87(1) of
fall
under the notification procedure provided for in Article
88(3) of the Treaty.

to meet all
the Treaty and therefore do not

(2) The Commission has applied Articles 87 and 88 of the
Treaty and in particular clarified,
in numerous decisions,
the notion of aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of
the Treaty. The Commission has also stated its policy with
regard to a de minimis ceiling, under which Article 87(1)
can be considered not to apply, most recently in the notice
on the de minimis rule for State aid (3). In the light of this
experience and with a view to increasing transparency and
legal certainty, it is appropriate that the de minimis rule be
laid down in a regulation.

(1) OJ L 142, 14.5.1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 89, 28.3.2000, p. 6.
(3) OJ C 68, 6.3.1996, p. 9.

(3) In view of the special rules which apply in the sectors of
agriculutre, fisheries and transport, and of the risk that
even small amounts of aid could fulfil
the criteria of
Article 87(1) of the Treaty in those sectors, it is appropriate
that this Regulation should not apply to those sectors.

aid

not

that

exeeding

the Commission’s experience,

it can be
(4) In the light of
of
established
three years does not
EUR 100 000 over a period of
affect
trade between Member States and/or does not
distort or threaten to distort competition and therefore
does not fall under Article 87(1) of
the Treaty: this is
without prejudice to the possibility that enterprises will
receive other aid authorised by the Commission.

ceiling

a

(5) Export

aid has

always been prohibited wihin the
Community and is also subject to rules established in inter-
national agreements to which the European Community is
a party, and in particular the WTO Agreement on Subsidies
and Countervailing Measures. Consequently, in accordance
with the Commission’s practice on de minimis aid, export
aid should be excluded from the scope of this Regulation.

(6) For the purpose of transparency, equal treatment and the
correct application of the de minimis ceiling, it is appro-
priate that Member States should apply the same method
of calculation. In order to facilitate this calculation and in
accordance with the present practive of application of the
it is appropriate that aid amounts not
de minimis rule,
taking the form of a cash grant should be converted into
their gross grant equivalent. Calculation of
the grant
equivalent of aid payable in several instalaments, and calcu-
lation of aid in the form of a soft loan, require the use of
market interest rates prevailing at the time of grant. With a
view to a uniform, transparent and simple application of
the State aid rules, the market rates for the purposes of this
Regulation should be deemed to be the reference rates,
the loan is
provided that,

in the case of a soft

loan,

28.3.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 89/7

backed by normal security and does not involve abnormal
risk. The reference rates should be those which are period-
ically fixed by the Commission on the basis of objective
criteria and published in the Official Journal of the European
Communities and on the Internet.

thereof.

rule adheres

to the conditions

(7) The Commission has a duty to ensure that State aid rules
are respected and in particular that aid granted under the
In
de minimis
accordance with the cooperation principle laid down in
Article 10 of the Treaty, Member States should facilitate
the achievement of this task by establishing the necessary
machinery in order ot ensure that the total amount of aid,
granted to the same beneficiary under the de minimis rule,
does not exceed the ceiling of EUR 100 000 over a period
of three years. To that end, it is appropriate that Member
States inform the enterprise concerned of the de minimis
character of an aid and obtain a written statement from the
enterprise concerned, confirming that the de minimis ceiling
hs not been exceeded.

Article 2

De minimis aid

1.
Aid measures shall be deemed not to meet all the criteria
of Article 87(1) of the Treaty and shall therefore not fall under
the notification requirement of Article 88(3) of the Treaty, if
they fulfil the conditions laid down in paragraphs 2 and 3.

2.
The total de minimis aid granted to any one enterprise
shall not exceed EUR 100 000 over any period of three years.
This ceiling shall apply irrespective of the from of the aid or
the objective pursued.

3.
The ceiling in paragraph 2 shall be expressed as a cash
grant. All figures used shall be before any deduction for direct
taxation. Where aid is awarded in a form other than a grant,
the aid amount is the grant equivalent of the aid.

(8) In accordance with Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No
994/98,
the Commission should require Member States
to provide at any time such information as is necessary
to verify compliance with this Regulation.

Aid payable in several instalments shall be discounted to its
value at the moment of tis being granted. The interest rate to
be used for discounting purpose and to calculate the aid
amount in a soft loan shall be the reference rate applicable
at the time of grant.

the

frequency with which it

(9) Having regard to the Commission’s experience and in
is generally
particular
necessary to revise State-aid policy,
it is appropriate to
limit the period of application of this Regulation to five
years. Should this Regulation expire without being
extended, the aid schemes already covered by this Regu-
lation may remain in force for six months, in accordance
with Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 994/98,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Scope

This Regulation applies to aid granted to enterprises in all
sectors, with the exception of:

(a) the transport

linked to the
sector and the activities
production, processing or marketing of products listed in
Annex I to the Treaty;

(b) aid to export-related activities, namely aid directly linked to
the quantities exported, to the establishmet and operation
of a distribution network or to other current expenditure
linked to the export activity.

Article 3

Cumulation and monitoring

1. Where a Member State grants de minimis aid to an
enterprise, it shall inform the enterprise about the de minimis
character of the aid and obtain a written statement from the
enterprise that the new aid does not raise the total amount of
de minimis aid received to a level above the ceiling set out in
Article 2(2). In order to facilitate the task of enterprises in
making such statements, Member States shall, during the first
three years of the application of this Regulation, give them all
necessary information about aid which they have granted to
them under the de minimis rule before the entry into force of
this Regulation and which sould be taken into account for the
calculation of the ceiling.

all

shall

States

the conditions of

record and compile

the
2. Member
information regarding the application of
this Regulation.
Such records shall contain all information necessary to demon-
strate that
this Regulation have been
respected. Records regarding an individual aid shall be main-
tained for 10 years from the date on which it was granted and
regarding an aid scheme, for 10 years from the date on which
the last individual aid was granted under such scheme. On
written request the Member State concerned shall provide the
Commission, within a period of 20 working days, or such
longer period as may be fixed in the request, with all the
the Commission considers necessary for
information that
assessing whether
this Regulation have
the conditions of
been complied with,
in particular the total amount of de
minimis aid received by any enterprise.

C 89/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.3.2000

Article 4

It shall remain in force for five years.

Entry into force and period of validity

1.
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth
day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

2.
At the end of the period of validity of this Regulation, aid
schemes falling under this Regulation shall continue to benefit
from it during an adjustment period of six months.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, . . .

For the Commission

. . .

Member of the Commission

DRAFT COMMISSION REGULATION ON THE APPLICATION OF ARTICLES 87 AND 88 OF THE EC TREATY
TO TRAINING AID

(2000/C 89/07)

Invitation to submit comments on the draft Commission Regulation on the application of Articles 87 and
88 of the EC Traty to training aid.

Interested parties may submit their coments within one month of the date of publication of this draft
Regulation to:

European Commission
Directorate-General for Competition
Directorate G
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200
B-1049 Brussels
Fax (32-2) 296 98 13.

Draft Commission Regulation on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to training
aid

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having published a draft of this Regulation (2),

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having consulted the Advisory Committee on State Aid,

Whereas:

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 994/98 of 7 May
1998 on the application of Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty
establishing the European Community to certain categories of
horizontal State aid (1), and in particular point (a)(iv) of Article
1(1) thereof,

(1) Regulation (EC) No 994/98 empowers the Commission to
declare, in accordance with Article 87 of the Treaty, that
under certain conditions training aid is compatible with
the common market and not subject to the notification
requirements of Article 88(3) of the Treaty.

(1) OJ L 142, 14.5.1998, p. 1.

(2) OJ C 89, 28.3.2000, p. 8.