Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2003-02-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: State aid, investment aid, processing industry, production improvement, productivity, service industry, small and medium-sized enterprises, sports facilities

11.2.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 32/9

Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission
Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the
EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises

(2003/C 32/03)

(Text with EEA relevance)

Aid No: XS 101/01

Member State: United Kingdom

Region: West Midlands

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an
individual aid: West Midlands diversifiction programme

Legal basis: the funding for this programme is provided by the
UK Department of Trade and Industry under the Industrial
Development Act (1982), sections 7, 8 and 11

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall
amount of individual aid granted to the company: this new
some GBP 13,5 million
scheme will provide funding of
(EUR 21,4 million) over a period of
three years from 1
November 2001 to 31 October 2004. This comprises UK
Government funding only.

The restimated annual funding profile is as follows:

2001: GBP 0,2 million (EUR 0,3 million)

2002: GBP 5,4 million (EUR 8,6 million)

2003: GBP 5,4 million (EUR 8,6 million)

2004: GBP 2,5 million (EUR 3,9 million)

This funding will be used to support SMEs (which meet the
definition set out in Annex 1 to Commission Regulation (EC)
No 70/2001) located in the West Midlands region. The support
offered will be for one-off and non-recurring activities in
accordance with Article 5(a) of that Regulation and consultants
will be selected competitively from a shortlist of
three
companies in accordance with the practice of UK ‘Business
Link’ organisations.

assistance

assistance

Monitoring and reporting — Records of
to
companies will be maintaining for 10 years form the date on
granted and appropriate
which individual
information will be notified to the Commission on an annual
basis in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No
70/2001. In addition, all other requirements of Article 9 (in
particular,
the maintenance of such records as will allow
compliance with Article 9(2) will be fulfilled.

is

The award of grants will be monitored by local Business link
organisations under a framework set out by the granting
authority. These organisations are already familiar with the
application of the de minimis ceiling and the requirement to
ensure that aid from different sources is not awarded such that
individual SMEs exceed the rolling three-year threshold. The
provisions of Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 will be clarified
and the records kept by the Business links will be examined
to ensure that they are sufficient and correctly maintained

Maximum aid intensity: the maximum aid intensity will be
50 %; the maximum amount available to any one company will
be GBP 100 000 (EUR 159 000) over the three-year period

Date of implementation: 1 November 2001

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: three years

Objective of aid: the economy of the West Midlands region
relies heavily on traditional manufacturing sectors such as
automotive components. Companies
in these sectors are
vulnerable, particularly to changes in sourcing patterns as
typically from central
re-sourced,
are
low-cost products
Europe and the Far East.

The West Midlands diversifaction programme seeks to assist
small and medium-sized businesses in these traditional manu-
facturing sectors in diversifying into new products and markets
where their capabilities will allow them to achieve higher value
added and thus to exploit the potential for greater profitability.
Consultancy support will assist these companies in overcoming
the management and resource constraints that they face. It will
ensure that companies moving into new products and markets
do so on the basis of a sound business plan, which is
important given the risks associated with diversification.
In
addition, start-up companies in the manufacturing sector will
be assisted in drawing up a viable business plan and under-
standing the characteristics of their chosen markets.

Funding of 50 % (expressed on a gross basis) will be available
to businesses to help meet the cost of consultancy in areas
such as market
to development
research, gaining access
capital, business planning, meeting quality requirements in
new markets
sectors.
Assistance will also be offered to develop the skills and
capacity of
these manufacturing businesses to exploit new
opportunities and other specialist services such as technology
transfer and rapid prototyping.

and understanding diverse market

C 32/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

11.2.2003

Economic sectors concerned: the sector to be supported will
be ‘all manufacturing’. The companies receiving support are
typically in the subsectors of:

— plastic moulding and processing

— metal finishing and heat treatment

— machining

— surface finishing and plating

— presswork

— tool making

— rubber moulding

— forging and casting (but see note below).

portfolio

and process

components, which account

across many manufacturing

The recipient companies under the West Midlands diversi-
a diverse
faction programme manufacture
sectors,
product
including automotive
for a
significant proportion of manufacturing activity in the West
Midlands. However, recipients will not
include automotive
OEM or first-tier suppliers, or steel manufacturing comapnies
as defined in the Community framework for State aid in the
motor vehicle sector (OJ C 279, 15.9.1997, p. 1) and the Steel
Aid Code (Commission Decision No 2496/96/ECSC of 18
December 1996 establishing Community rules for State aid
to the steel industry).

Region: Hessen

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an
individual aid: guidelines issued by the Land of Hessen with a
(1):
view to promoting regional development — Part
Business investment

II

Legal basis: Gesetz zur Förderung der kleinen und mittleren
Unternehmen der hessischen Wirtschaft vom 23. September
1974 (GVBl. S. 458), zuletzt geändert am 22. August 1986
(GVBl. S. 265), Förderrichtlinien zur regionalen Entwicklung

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall
amount of individual aid granted to the company: an
amount of approx imately EUR 2,6 million is available each
year from Land resources for investment grants. An amount of
approximately EUR 9 million is earmarked each year for loans
in Objective 2 areas

the maximum aid intensity for
Maximum aid intensity:
firms and 7,5 % for
investment grants is 15 % for small
medium-sized firms. In Objective 2 ares the assistance usually
takes the form of a combination of a grant and an interest-free
loan. The loan can be up to 25 % of eligible investment costs
for a period of 10 years, with a three-year grace periode. The
subsidy value of both measures together must not exceed the
maximum aid intensity indicated above

Date of implementation: the guidelines were published in the
Official Gazette (Staatsanzeiger) for the Land of Hessen on 7
January 2002

Name and address of the granting authority:

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: until 30 June
2007 in accordance with European Commission requirements

Advantage West Midlands
3 Priestley Wharf
Aston Science Park
Birmingham B7 4BN
United Kingdom

Other information: companies that are eligible to apply for
funds from the West Midlands diversification programme may
also be eligible to receive funding for process-improvement
activities
relating to their existing products and markets
under the Accelerate action plan. This separate scheme of aid
providing assistance for company improvement activities is
being notified at the same time as the West Midlands diversifi-
cation programme. The nature of the activities funded under
the Accelerate action plan are different form those that form
if they wish,
the subject of this application, but SMEs may,
apply to take part in both schemes.

in selected areas, the Hessen Investment
Objective of aid:
Bank (IBH), acting on behalf of
the Hessen Ministry of
Economics, Transport and Regional Development, makes
grants and loans to SMEs to finance particularly eligible
commercial
investments in SMEs within the meaning of the
Commission Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 with a view to
creating and safeguarding jobs

Economic sector(s) concerned: commercial enterprises

Name and address for the granting authority:

InvestitionsBank Hessen AG
Schumannstraße 4—6
D-60325 Frankfurt am Main

Aid No: XS 14/02

Member State: Germany

economic

Other information:
in the regions in Hessen assisted under
the joint Federal Government/Länder scheme for improving
regional
also
assited. This assistance is not, however, the subject of this
notification; as regards the rules on State aid, it is covered by
the approval of the German regional aid map and the general
plan for the joint scheme.

companies

structures,

large

are

11.2.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 32/11

The rules are based primarily on the Hessen Structural
Assistance Programme approved by the EU Commission.

Region: England and Wales

A new development is the introduction of an additional type of
loan for support measures in Objective 2 areas.

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an
individual aid: Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) —
Regional Centres for Manufacturing Excellence (RCME)

Aid No: XS 86/01

Member State: Italy

Region: autonomous region of Valle d'Aosta

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an
individual aid: consultancy aid to SMEs, pursuant measure D3
of the regional operational programme (ROP) for structural
measures
taken by the region of Valle d'Aosta to meet
Objective 3 in the period 2000 to 2006

Legal basis: Delibera della Giunta regionale n. 2955 del
20.8.2001

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall
amount of individual aid granted to the company: ITL 400
million or EUR 206 582,76 a year

Maximum aid intensity: 50 % of the costs of the services
supplied by external consultants. Such services must not be
connected with the normal
continuous or
day-to-day operating expenditure of
such as
ordinary tax advice, legal advice and advertising costs

regular, or

firm,

the

Date of implementation: 10 September 2001

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: until 30
September 2003

Objective of aid: the aim is to facilitate the development of
SMEs in the Val d'Aosta,
in particular by granting aid for
consultancy services

Economic
industries; other services

sector(s)

concerned:

other manufacturing

Name and address of granting authority:

Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta
Dipartimento industria, artigianto ed energia
Piazza della Repubblica n. 15
I-11100 Aosta
Tel. (39-01) 65 27 47 26/27 47 27
Fax (39-01) 65 23 85 29
e-mail: iae@regione.vda.it

Aid No: XS 87/01

Member State: United Kingdom

Legal basis: the statutory basis enabling provision of discre-
tionary support is as follows:

(a) Science and Technology Act 1965, section 5(1)(a) and (b):
for scientific research and for dissemi-

enables support
nation and practical application of its results;

(b) Industrial Development Act 1982, Parts III and IV: enables
selective financial assistance and general assistance in the
form of advice,
information and service provision. The
relevant power is section 11 of the Industrial Development
Act 1982, which enables the Secretary of State to make
provision for the giving of advice (whether free of charge
or otherwise) to persons carrying on or proposing to carry
on a business. This is the underlying enabling legislation for
alle work which will be undertaken as part of the Manu-
facturing Advisory Service

Annual expenditure planned under the schemeor overall
amount of individual aid granted to the company:

The MAS budget is expected to be as follows:

2001/2002

2002/2003

2003/2004

(in GBP million)

Programme
total

Total net MAS
programme cost

5,5

12,25

15,5

33,25

Maximum aid intensity: the maximum intensity is 50 % for
the consultancy element of the service, which is that part of
the service constituting State aid. The maximum value of
support from the RCMEs for any single SME is likely to be
about GBP 7 000 per year and the average is expected to be
only about GBP 3 000 per year

Date of implementation: the MAS initiative was announced
with publication of the White Paper ‘Opportunity for all in a
world of change’ on 13 February 2001 but should not begin to
incur RCME expenditure until the second half of 2001. The
including the information,
introduction of
adivce and consultancy

the full service,

support for SMEs form RCMEs (the subject of this notification),
is expected to commence with the establishment of the first
RCME by September/October 2001. The MAS will not be fully
implemented until all the RCMEs are established and a comple-
mentary national network of centres of expertise commissioned
by June 2002

C 32/12

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Official Journal of the European Union

11.2.2003

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: up to 30 April
2004

Objective of aid: the key aim of this initiative is to help
improve manufacturing productivity in the UK and in
to improve the take-up of best manufacturing
particular
practices by SMEs in England and Wales.
It will provide
companies with information and access to best technological
advice and expertise.

The MAS is intended in part to provide indirect (‘soft’) aid to
SMEs to improve their competitiveness and the long-term
profitability of
their businesses by promoting a culture of
buiness excellence. Individual SMEs will also benefit from the
information they receive, which will in some cases extend to
subsidised consultancy projects to help them introduce best-
practice manufacturing operations

these

activities, but,

complementary

established to improve the productivity of particular manufac-
turing sectors. The MAS and RCMEs will utilise and not
duplicate
in other
instances, it is more appropriate to focus on the needs of the
individual firm on a regional basis to provide extra accessi-
bility. Without detracting from the role of Business links in
providing general advice to individual
firms, manufacturers
need more specific information and advice on manufacturing
issues, tailored to the firm's operational environment and based
technologies and well-
on credible experience of
understood best-practice methodologies.

the latest

Aid No: XS 88/01

Member State: Spain

Economic sector(s) concerned: all manufacturing (excluding
coal, steel, agriculture and export).

Region: autonomous Community of La Rioja

Name and address of the granting authority:

Ron Egginton
EID4a
Department of Trade and Industry
151 Buckingham Palace Road
London SW1
United Kingdom

traditional

economy, but

Other information: market imperfections, including levels of
awareness and access to professional advice,
limit the scope
which companies have to improve their competitive position.
Some small manufacturers, for example, can lack the resources
to move their performance beyond the level needed for
day-to-day survival. SMEs therefore need a convenient, easily
available and affordable source of information and advice on
in a
technology and related management/training issues
knowledge-intensive
sources of
information and advice such as consultants, universities and
research and technology organisations (RTOs) will not appeal
to many SMEs because of either their prohibitive costs or the
perceived difficulty of accessing them. Relations between
academia and many engineering SMEs are not good. The
Government already does
fund the provision of general
advisory support services to business through Business links,
because by helping individual businesses to succeed, grow and
be well placed to continue developing without
further
assistance, the UK's overall competitiveness as a nation can
be improved. However,
information and
advisory support
focused on the needs specific to manu-
facturers is currently lacking.

the availability of

Title of aid schme or name of the company receiving an
individual aid: aid to investment in SMEs providing industry-
related services

Legal basis: Resolución de 14 de septiembre de 2001, del
Presidente de la Agencia de Desarrollo Económico de La Rioja,
adopting the legal bases for granting investment aid to in-
dustry-related service SMEs (published in the Official Journal
of La Rioja, 25 September 2001)

Annual expenditure planned under the schemeor overall
amount of
individual aid granted to the company:
ESP 125 000 000 (EUR 751 265,13)

Maximum aid intensity:

— 30 % for small enterprises (15 % if not covered by the

regional aid map),

— 20 % for medium-sized enterprises (7,5 % if not covered by

the regional aid map)

Date of implementation: as of 25 September 2001

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: 2001-2006

to industry so as

to promote the provision of ancillary
Objective of aid:
services
activity,
economic development and regional competitiveness while
ensuring that stable jobs are created. It should be be stressed
here that the service sector has accounted for most of the net
growth in employment in the EU over the last few years.

to boost

industrial

The programme is designed to complement other programmes.
Sector-based programmes such as ‘Industry Fora’ have been

Economic sector(s) concerned: service secotr (with some
exceptions).

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 32/13

Name and address of the granting authority:

Agencia de Desarrollo Económico de la Rioja (ADER)
C/ Muro de la Mata, 13-14
E-26071 Logroño (La Rioja)

Government contribution to the project's invstment costs is
EUR 2 254 065 (i.e.
total
eligible costs)

approximately 29,2 % of

the

Maximum aid intensity: 29,2 %

Other information: this is a new aid scheme.

Date of implementation: 9 October 2001

Aid No: XS 92/01

Member State: Netherlands

Region: North Netherlands (Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe)

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an
individualaid: Sport en Recreatiecentrum Thialf BV

Legal basis: Beschikking d.d. 9 oktober 2001 van het Dagelijks
Bestuur van het Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland,
zijnde een openbaar lichaam op grond van de Wet Gemeen-
schappelijke Regelingen

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall
individual aid grantd to the company:
amount of
the
decision of
the North
the day-to-day management of
Netherlands Cooperation Association (‘Dagelijks Bestuur van
the
het Samenwerkingsverband Noord-nederland’) concerns
contribution to the project's investment costs of an amount
of EUR 984 120 from EZ/Kompass funds (i.e. approximately
12,7 % of the total eligible costs) under the 2000 to 2006
for North
economic
regional
the North’. The total
Netherlands entitled ‘Compass

development programme
for

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: date on which
the final instalment will be paid: August 2002

Objective of aid: to contribute to investments in the extension
and technical revitalisation of the Thialf skating rink in Heer-
enveen. The project aims to create a sporting facility the public
character of which will be guaranted for a period of five years
after the definitive fixing of the aid via an automatic transfer
provision

Economic sector(s) concerned: all sectors

Name and address of the granting authority:

Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland
p/a Postbus 779
9700 AT Groningen
Nederland

Other information: this measure concerned ad hoc aid for
investments in fixed assets by a small, independent enterprise
as defined in Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No
70/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the application of Articles
the EC Treaty to State aid to small and
87 and 88 of
medium-sized enterprises.