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

28.3.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 89/15

DRAFT COMMISSION REGULATION ON THE APPLICATION OF ARTICLES 87 AND 88 OF THE EC TREATY
TO STATE AID TO SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES

(2000/C 89/08)

Invitation to submit comments on the draft Commission Regulation on the application of Articles 87 and
88 of the EC Traty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises.

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 State
aid to small and medium-sized enterprises

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 point (a)(i) and (b) of
Article 1(1) 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
declare, in accordance with Article 87 of the Treaty, that
under certain conditions aid to small and medium-sized
enterprises is compatible with the common market and
not subject
to the notification requirements of Article
88(3) of the Treaty.

(2) Regulation

also

(EC) No

empowers

the Treaty,

the
994/98
in accordance with Article 87
Commission to declare,
of
that aid that complies with the map
approved by the Commission for each Member State for
the grant of regional aid is compatible with the common
market and is not subject to the notification requirements
of Article 88(3) of the Treaty.

(3) The Commission has applied Articles 87 and 88 of the
Treaty to small and medium-sized enterprises in and
outside assisted areas in numerous decisions and has
also stated its policy, most recently in the Community
guidelines on State aid for small and medium-sized enter-
prises (3) and in the guidelines on national regional aid (4).
In the light of the Commission’s considerable experience
in applying those Articles to small and medium-sized
enterprises and in the light of the general texts relating
to small and medium-sized enterprises and to regional aid
those
issued by the Commission on the basis of
is appropriate, with a view to ensuring
provisions,
administration
efficient
simplifying
without weakening Commission monitoring,
the
that
Commission should make use of the powers conferred
by Regulation (EC) No 994/98.

supervision and

it

(4) Small and medium-sized enterprises play a decisive role in
job creation and, more generally, act as a factor of social
stability and economic drive. However, their development
may be limited by market imperfections. They often have
difficulties in obtaining capital or credit, given the risk-shy
nature of certain financial markets and the limited guar-
antees that
they may be able to offer. Their limited
resources may also restrict their access to information,
potential
notably
markets. Having regard to those considerations,
the
purpose of the aid exempted by this Regulation should
be to facilitate the development of the economic activities
of small and medium-sized enterprises, provided that such
aid does not adversely affect trading conditions to an
extent contrary to the common interest.

new technology

regarding

and

(1) OJ L 142, 14.5.1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 89, 28.3.2000, p. 15.

(3) OJ C 213, 23.7.1996, p. 4.
(4) OJ C 74, 10.3.1998, p. 9.

C 89/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.3.2000

(5) This Regulation should exempt any individual aid that
meets all the relevant requirements of this Regulation,
and any aid scheme, provided that any aid that could
be granted under
the
relevant requirements of this Regulation. With a view to
ensuring efficient supervision and simplifying adminis-
tration without weakening Commission monitoring, aid
schemes and individual grants outside any aid scheme
should contain an express reference to this Regulation.

such scheme would meet all

Commission on the basis of objective criteria and
published
European
Communities and on the Internet.

in the Official

Journal

the

of

(10) Having regard to the differences between small enterprises
and medium-sized enterprises, different ceilings of aid
intensity should be set
for small enterprises and for
medium-sized enterprises.

(6) This Regulation should apply without prejudice to special
rules in Regulations and Directives concerning State aid in
certain sectors, such as shipbuilding and steel, and should
not apply to agriculture and fisheries.

(11) The ceilings of aid intensity should be fixed, in the light of
the Commission’s experience, at a level that strikes the
appropriate balance between minimising distortions of
competition in the aided sector and the objective of facili-
tating the development of the economic activities of small
and medium-sized enterprises.

(12)

(7) In order to eliminate differences that might give rise to
in order to facilitate coor-
distortions of competition,
dination betrween different Community and national
initiatives concerning small and medium-sized enterprises,
and for
reasons of administrative clarity and legal
certainty, the definition of (cid:145)small and medium-sized enter-
prises(cid:146) used in this Regulation should be that laid down in
the Annex to Commission Recommendation 96/280/EC
of 3 April 1996 concerning the definition of small and
medium-sized enterprises (1). That definition was also
used in the Community guidelines on State aid for
small and medium-sized enterprises (2)

It
that
is appropriate to establish further conditions
should be fulfilled by any aid scheme or individual aid
exempted by this Regulation. Having regard to Article
87(3)(c) of
the Treaty, such aid should not normally
have the sole effect of continuously or periodically
reducing the operating costs which the beneficiary
be
to
would
proportionate
to be
overcome in order to secure the socio-economic benefits
deemed to be in the Community interest. It is therefore
appropriate to limit the scope of this Regulation to aid
granted in relation to certain tangible and intangible
investments, certain services
supplied to beneficiaries
and certain other activities.

to the handicaps

that have

normally

should

bear,

have

and

(8) In accordance with the established practice of

the
Commission, and with a view to better ensuring that
aid is proportionate and limited to the amount necessary,
thresholds should be expressed in terms of aid intensities
in relation to a set of eligible costs, rather than in terms
of maximum aid amounts.

(9) In order to determine whether or not aid is compatible
with the common market pursuant to this Regulation, it
is necessary to take into consideration the aid intensity
and thus the aid amount expressed as a gant equivalent.
The calculation of the grant equivalent of aid payable in
instalments and aid in the form of a soft loan
several
requires 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
this Regulation should be
deemed to be the reference rates, provided that, in the
case of a soft loan, the loan is backed by normal security
and does not involve abnormal risk. The reference rates
should be those, which are periodically fixed by the

the purposes of

(13) This Regulation should exempt

regardless

enterprises

aid to small
of

and
medium-sized
location.
Investment and job creation can contribute to the
economic development of
less favoured regions in the
in
Community. Small and medium sized enterprises
those regions suffer from both the structural disadvantage
of the location and the difficulties deriving from their
and
size.
should
medium-sized enterprises
benefit from higher ceilings.

in assisted regions

appropriate

therefore

small

that

is

It

(14)

In order not to favour the capital factor of an investment
over the labour factor, provision should be made for the
possibility of measuring aid to investment on the basis of
either the costs of the investment or the costs of new
employment linked to the carrying-out of the investment
project.

(15)

In the light of
the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (3),
this Regulation should not exempt export aid or aid
favouring domestic over imported products.

(1) OJ L 107, 30.4.1996, p. 4.
(2) See footnote 3.

(3) OJ L 336, 23.12.1994, p. 156.

28.3.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 89/17

(16) Having regard to the need to strike the appropriate
balance between minimising distortions of competition
in the aided sector and the objectives of this Regulation,
it should not exempt individual aid grants which exceed a
fixed maximum amount, whether or not made under an
aid scheme exempted by this Regulation. That amount
should be fixed also having regard to the Commission’s
experience in this area, notably when applying the multi-
sectoral framework on regional aid for large investment
projects (1).

(17)

In order to ensure that the aid is necessary and acts as an
incentive to develop certain activities,
this Regulation
should not exempt aid for activities in which the bene-
ficiary would already engage under market conditions
alone.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Scope

1. Without prejudice to special Community regulations or
directives under the EC Treaty governing the granting of State
aid in specific sectors, this Regulation applies to aid granted to
small and medium-sized enterprises in all sectors.

2.

This Regulation shall not apply:

(a) to activities

linked to the production, processing or

marketing of products listed in Annex I to the Treaty;

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

(18) This Regulation should not exempt the aid cumulated
with other State aid,
including aid granted by national,
regional or local authorities, or Community assistance,
when such cumulation exceeds the thresholds fixed in
this Regulation.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation:

(19)

In order to ensure transparency and effective monitoring,
in accordance with Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No
994/98, it is appropriate to establish a standard format
in which Member States should provide the Commission
with summary information whenever, in pursuance of this
Regulation, an aid scheme is implemented or an indi-
vidual aid outside such schemes is granted, with a view
to publication in the Official
the European
it is appropriate to
Communities. For the same reasons,
establish rules concerning the records
that Member
States should keep regarding the aid exempted by this
Regulation. For the purposes of the annual report to be
submitted to the Commission by Member States,
it is
appropriate for the Commission to establish its specific
requirements, including, in view of the wide availability of
the necessary technology,
information in computerised
form.

Journal of

(20) Having regard to the Commission’s experience in this
is
area, aid in particular the frequency with which it
generally necessary to revise State aid policy, it is appro-
priate to limit the period of application of this Regulation
to five years. Should this Regulation expire without being
extended, aid schemes already exempted by this Regu-
lation should continue to be exempted for six months,
in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No
994/98;

(1) OJ C 107, 7.4.1998, p. 7.

(a) (cid:145)aid(cid:146) shall mean any measure fulfilling all the criteria laid

down in Article 87(1) of the Treaty;

(b) (cid:145)small and medium-sized enterprises(cid:146) shall mean enterprises

as defined in Annex I;

extension of

an existing establishment, or

(c) (cid:145)investment in tangible assets(cid:146) shall mean an investment in
fixed assets relating to the creation of a new establishment,
the
the
engagement in an activity involving a fundamental change
in the product or production process of an existing estab-
lishment
(in particular through rationalisation, diversifi-
in fixed assets
cation or modernisation). An investment
undertaken in the form of the takeover of an establishment
which has closed or which would have closed had it not
been purchased shall
tangible
also be
investment;

regarded as

(d) (cid:145)investment in intangible assets(cid:146) shall mean investment in
transfer of technology by the acquisition of patent rights,
licences, know-how or unpatented technical knowledge;

(e) (cid:145)gross aid intensity(cid:146) shall mean the aid amount expressed as
a percentage of the project’s eligible costs. All figures used
shall be taken before any deduction for direct taxation.
Where aid is awarded in a form other than a grant, the
aid amount shall be the grant equivalent of the aid. Aid
payable in several
instalments shall be discounted to its
value at the moment of granting. The interest rate to be
used for discounting purposes and for calculating the aid
amount in a soft loan shall be the reference rate applicable
at the time of grant;

(f)

(cid:145)net aid intensity(cid:146) shall mean the aid amount net of tax
expressed as a percentage of the project’s eligible costs;

C 89/18

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.3.2000

(g) (cid:145)number of employees(cid:146) shall mean the number of annual
(ALU), namely the number of persons
time in one year, part-time and seasonal

labour units
employed full
work being ALU fractions.

Article 3

Preliminary conditions for exemption

fulfilling all

Individual aid outside any scheme,

the
1.
conditions of this Regulation, shall be compatible with the
common market within the meaning of Article 87(3) of the
Treaty and shall be exempt from the notification requirement
of Article 88(3) of the Treaty provided that it constains an
express reference to this Regulation, by citing its full title and
publication reference in the Official
the European
Communities.

Journal of

Aid schemes fulfilling all the conditions of this Regulation
2.
shall be compatible with the common market within the
meaning of Article 87(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempt
from the notification requirement of Article 88(3) of the Treaty
provided that:

(a) any aid that could be awarded under such scheme fulfils all

the conditions of this Regulation;

(b) the scheme provided that all aid awarded under it must also

fulfil all the conditions of this Regulation;

(c) the scheme contains an express reference to this Regulation,
title and publication reference in the

by citing its full
Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 4

Investment

1.
Aid for investment in tangible and intangible assets inside
or outside the Community shall be compatible with the
common market within the meaning of Article 87(3) of the
Treaty and shall be exempt from the notification requirements
of Article 88(3) of the Treaty if it fulfils the conditions of
paragraphs 2 to 6.

2.

The gross aid intensity shall not exceed:

(a) 15 % in the case of small enterprises;

(b) 7,5 % in the case of medium-sized enterprises.

3. Where the investment takes place in areas which qualify
for regional aid, the aid intensity shall not exceed the level of
regional investment aid determined in the map approved by
the Commission for each Member State by more than:

(a) 10 percentage points gross in areas covered by Article
87(3)(c), provided that the total net aid intensity does not
exceed 30 %; or

(b) 15 percentage points gross in areas covered by Article
87(3)(a), provided that the total net aid intensity does not
exceed 65 %.

The higher regional aid ceilings apply only if the aid is granted
under the condition that the investment is granted under the
condition that the investment is maintained in the recipient
region for
recipient’s
and that
contribution to its financing is at least 25 %.

five years

least

the

at

4.
The thresholds fixed in paragraphs 2 and 3 apply to
intensity of the aid calculated either as a percentage of the
the wage
investment’s eligible costs or as a percentage of
costs of employment created by the carrying-out of an
(aid to job creation) or a combination thereof,
investment
provided the aid does not exceed the most
favourable
amount resulting from the application of either calculation.

the
In case the aid is calculated on the basis of
5.
investment’s costs,
tangible investment
the eligible costs of
shall be the costs relating to investment in land, buildings,
machinery and equipment. In the transport sector, semi-mobile
and mobile transport equipment shall not be included in the
eligible costs. The eligible costs of intangible investment shall
be the costs of acquisition of the technology.

6.
In case the aid is calculated on the basis of jobs created,
the amount of the aid shall be expressed as a percentage of the
relating to the
wage costs over a period of
employment created under the following conditions:

two years

(a) job creation shall be linked to the carrying-out of a project
of investment in tangible or intangible assets. Jobs shall be
created within three years of the investment’s completion;

(b) it shall lead to a net increase in the number of employees in
the particular establishment, compared with the average
over the past twelve months; and

(c) the employment created shall be maintained during a
minimum period of two years. Where the aid ceilings for
regional aid are applied, this period shall be five years.

Article 5

Consultancy and other services and activities

Aid to small and medium-sized enterprises that
fulfils the
following conditions shall be compatible with the common
market within the meaning of Article 87(3) of the Treaty and
shall be exempt from the notification requirements of Article
88(3) of the Treaty:

(a) for services provided by outside consultants, the gross aid
shall not exced 50 % of the costs of such services. The
services concerned shall not be a continuous or periodic
activity nor relate to the enterprise’s usual operating expen-
diture, such as routine tax consultancy services, regular
legal services, or advertising;

28.3.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 89/19

(b) for participation in fairs and exhibitions, the gross aid shall
not exceed 50 % of the costs of renting, setting up and
running the stand. This exemption shall only apply to the
first participation of an enterprise in a certain fair or
exhibition.

Article 6

Large individual aid grants

This Regulation shall not exempt an individual aid grant where
either of the following two criteria are met:

(a) the total project cost is at least EUR 50 000 000 and the
aid intensity is at least 50 % of the aid ceiling in the area
concerned and aid per job created amounts to at least
EUR 40 000; or

(b) the total aid is at least EUR 50 000 000.

Article 7

Necessity for the aid

is

This Regulation shall only exempt aid if, before work on the
aided project
the recipient’s aid application is
received by the Member State or the tax or similar legislation
establishing in principle the legal right
to the aid without
further exercise of discretion by the Member State is adopted.

started,

Article 8

Cumulation

The aid ceilings fixed in Articles 4, 5 and 6 shall apply
1.
regardless of whether the support
is
financed entirely from State resources or is partly financed
by the Community.

for the aided project

2.
Aid exempted by this Regulation shall not be cumulated
with other State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the
Treaty, or with other Community funding, if such cumulation
would result in an aid intensity exceeding that fixed by this
Regulation.

Article 9

Transparency and monitoring

On implementation of an aid scheme, or grant of indi-
1.
vidual aid outside any scheme, exempted by this Regulation,
Member States shall, within 10 working days, forward to the
Commission, with a view to its publication in the Official
the
Journal of
information regarding such aid scheme or individual aid in
the form laid down in Annex II.

the European Communities, a summary of

2. Member States shall maintain detailed records regarding
the aid schemes exempted by this Regulation, the individual aid
granted under those schemes, and the individual aid exempted
by this Regulation that
is granted outside any existing aid
scheme. Such records shall contain all information necessary
to establish that the conditions for exemption, as laid down in
this Regulation, are fulfilled. Member States shall keep a record
regarding an individual aid 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 information which the Commission considers necessary
to assess whether the conditions of this Regulation have been
complied with.

3. Member States shall compile a report on the application
of this Regulation in respect of each whole or part calendar
year during which this Regulation applies,
in the form laid
down in Annex III, also in computerised form. Member
States shall provide the Commission with such report no
later than three months after the expiry of
the period to
which the report relates.

Article 10

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. It shall remain in force for a period of
five years.

At the end of the period of validity of this Regulation, aid
remain

2.
this Regulation shall
schemes
exempted during an adjustment period of six months.

exempted under

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

C 89/20

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.3.2000

ANNEX I

Definition of small and medium-sized enterprises

(extract from the Commission Recommendation of 3 April 1996 concerning the definition of small and medium-sized
enterprises (OJ L 107, 30.4.1996, p. 4))

1.

Small and medium-sized enterprises, hereinafter referred to as (cid:145)SMEs(cid:146), are defined as enterprises which:

Article 1

(cid:151) have fewer than 250 employees, and

(cid:151) have either,

(cid:151) an annual turnover not exceeding ECU 40 million, or

(cid:151) an annual balance-sheet total not exceeding ECU 27 million,

(cid:151) conform to the criterion of independence as defined in paragraph 3.

2. Where it is necessary to distinguish between small and medium-sized enterprises, the (cid:145)small enterprise(cid:146) is defined
as an enterprise which:

(cid:151) has fewer than 50 employees and

(cid:151) has either,

(cid:151) an annual turnover not exceeding ECU 7 million, or

(cid:151) an annual balance-sheet total not exceeding ECU 5 million,

(cid:151) conforms to the criterion of independence as defined in paragraph 3.

3.
Independent enterprises are those which are not owned as to 25 % or more of the capital or the voting rights by
one enterprise, or jointly by serveral enterprises, falling outside the definitions of an SME or a small enterprise,
whichever may apply. This threshold may be exceeded in the following two cases:

(cid:151) if the enterprise is held by public investment corporations, venture capital companies or institutional investors,

provided no control is exercised either individually or jointly;

(cid:151) if the capital is spread in such a way that it is not possible to determine by whom it is held and if the enterprise
declares that it can legitimately presume that it is not owned as to 25 % or more by one enterprise, or jointly by
several enterprises, falling outside the definitions of an SME or a small enterprise, whichever may apply.

4.
In calculating the thresholds referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, it is therefore necessary to cumulate the relevant
figures for the beneficiary enterprise and for all the enterprises that it directly or indirectly controls through possession
of 25 % or more of the capital or of the voting rights.

5. Where it is necessary to distinguish micro-enterprises from other SMEs, these are defined as enterprises having
fewer than 10 employees.

6. Where, at the final balance sheet date, an enterprise exceeds or falls below the employee thresholds or financial
ceilings, this is to result in its acquiring or losing the status of (cid:145)SME(cid:146), (cid:145)medium-sized enterprise(cid:146), (cid:145)small enterprise(cid:146) or
(cid:145)micro-enterprise(cid:146) only if the phenomenon is repeated over two consecutive financial years.

7.
The number of persons employed corresponds to the number of annual working units (AWU), that is to say, the
number of full-time workers employed during one year with part-time and seasonal workers being fractions of AWU.
The reference year to be considered is that of the last approved accounting period.

The turnover and balance sheet total thresholds are those of the last approved 12-month accounting period. In the
8.
case of newly-established enterprises whose accounts have not yet been approved, the thresholds to apply shall be
derived from a reliable estimate made in the course of the financial year.

28.3.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 89/21

Form of summary information to be provided whenever an aid scheme exempted by this Regulation is
implemented and whenever an individual aid exempted by this Regulation is granted outside any aid scheme

ANNEX II

Member State (Region):

Date of implementation (aid scheme) or grant (individual aid):

Name and address of responsible authority:

Title of aid scheme implemented or name of beneficiary granted individual aid:

Objective of aid:

Sectors concerned:

Legal basis:

Annual budget:

Maximum aid intensity:

Duration (1) in years and months:

Other information (optional):

(1) Time-limit until which aid may be granted on the basis of the scheme.

ANNEX III

Form of periodic report to be provided to the Commission

Joint annual reporting format on existing State aid under the EC Treaty, aid exempted under a regulation
adopted pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 994/98 and subsidies under the WTO Agreement on subsidies
and countervailing measures (SCM Agreement)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Member States are advised to use those formats for their reporting obligations to the Commission under Article 88(1) of
the EC Treaty and under group exemption regulations adopted on the basis of Council Regulation (EC) No 994/98. The
formats are adapted to the two requirements and should be used instead of the format which was sent to the Member
States by letter of 22 February 1994. As regards the notification obligations imposed by Article 25 ASCM the agreed
WTO format should continue to be used. The reports should also be provided in computerised form.

Existing State aid and exempted aid schemes

The information exclusively reserved for the Commission on existing State aid and exempted aid schemes is contained in
Section A of the joint format. This section can be filled in in any official language of the Union.

WTO ASCM

The information required under Article 25 ASCM and which will be copied on behalf of the Member States to the WTO
is contained in the Section B of the joint format. This part has to be filled in in one of the official languages of the WTO
which are English, French and Spanish.

SECTION A: Information under Article 88(1) EC Treaty on the aid scheme (Information contained in this section A will
not be transmitted to the WTO and can be filled in in any official language of the European Union)

C 89/22

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.3.2000

A.1. FORMAT OF DETAILED ANNUAL REPORT

(not applicable)

A.2. FORMAT OF SIMPLIFIED ANNUAL REPORT TO BE SUBMITTED FOR ALL EXISTING SCHEMES NOT REPORTED

UNDER A.1 AND FOR ALL EXEMPTED AID

For new aid schemes covered by the accelerated clearance procedure or schemes with an annual budget of not more
than ECU 5 million, give only the information requested in points 1, 2.1, 2.2.1 and 2.2.2 (very simplified report).

1.

2.

Name of scheme in original language

Expenditure under scheme

Separate figures should be provided for each aid instrument in the scheme (e.g. grant,
guarantees). Provide figures on expenditure or commitments, revenue losses and other financial
loan,
relevant to the granting of aid (e.g. period of
recovered, default payments on guarantees net of premium income and sums recovered.

low interest loans,
factors
interest subsidies, default rates on loans net of sums

For exempted general training aid, documentary evidence should be given regarding the qualification of the
training as general.

These expenditure figures should be provided on the following basis:

For year n, provide expenditure forecasts or estimated revenue losses due to tax expenditure

For year n-1, indicate:

2.1.

2.2.

2.2.1. Expenditure committed, or estimated revenue losses due to tax expenditure, for new assisted projects and actual

payments for new and current projects.

2.2.2. Number of new recipients and number of new projects assisted, together with estimated number of jobs created

or maintained.

2.2.3.

(not applicable)

2.2.4.

(not applicable)

3.

Changes (administrative or other) introduced during the year.