Commission Regulation (EC) No 363/2004 of 25 February 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 68/2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to training aid
Date: 2004-02-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aid system, aid to undertakings, vocational training

L 63/20

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Official Journal of the European Union

28.2.2004

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 363/2004

of 25 February 2004

amending Regulation (EC) No 68/2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to
training aid

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 68/2001 should therefore be
amended accordingly,

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)(iv) of Article
1(1) thereof,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Having published a draft of this Regulation (2),

Article 1

Having consulted the Advisory Committee on State Aid,

Regulation (EC) No 68/2001 is amended as follows:

Whereas:

1. Article 1 is replaced by the following:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 68/2001 (3) provides
for special conditions in respect of aid to be granted for
small and medium-sized enterprises. The definition of
small and medium-sized enterprises in Regulation (EC)
No 68/2001 is that used in Commission Recommenda-
tion 96/280/EC of 3 April 1996 concerning the defini-
tion of small and medium-sized enterprises (4). That
Recommendation has been replaced by Recommenda-
tion 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the defini-
tion of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (5)
with effect from 1 January 2005. In the interests of legal
certainty, the definition used in Regulation (EC) No 68/
2001 should be the same as that used in 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 (6).

it

Experience has shown that
is desirable to have a
unified and simplified reporting system of annual reports
adopted pursuant to Article 27 of Council Regulation
(EC) No 659/1999 of 22 March 1999 laying down
detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the EC
Treaty (7). The specific reporting provisions laid down in
Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 68/2001 should there-
fore only apply until such time as a general reporting
system has been adopted.

It is necessary to lay down provisions for the assessment
of the compatibility with the common market of any
training aid granted without prior authorisation of the
Commission before the entry into force of Regulation
(EC) No 68/2001.

(1) OJ L 142, 14.5.1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 190, 12.8.2003, p. 2.
(3) OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 20.
(4) OJ L 107, 30.4.1996, p. 4.
(5) OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36.
(6) OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 33.
(7) OJ L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 1, Regulation as amended by the 2003 Act

of Accession.

‘Article 1

Scope

to training aid in all

This Regulation applies
sectors,
including the activities relating to the production, processing
and marketing of products listed in Annex I of the Treaty,
with the exception of aid falling within the scope of Council
Regulation (EC) No 1407/2002 (*).

(*) OJ L 205, 2.8.2002, p. 1.’;

2. In Article 2 points, (b) and (c) are replaced by the following:

‘(b) “small and medium-sized enterprises” shall mean enter-
prises as defined in Annex I to Commission Regulation
(EC) No 70/2001 (*);

(c) “large enterprises” shall mean enterprises not coming
under the definition of small and medium-sized enter-
prises;

(*) OJ L 10, 13.1.2002, p. 33.’.;

3. In Article 7, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

‘3. Member States shall compile an annual report on the
application of this Regulation in accordance with the imple-
menting provisions concerning the form and content of
annual reports which are laid down pursuant to Article 27
of Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 (*).

Until such provisions enter into force, Member States shall
compile an annual report on the application of this Regu-
lation in respect of the whole or part of each 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.

(*) OJ L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 1.’

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Official Journal of the European Union

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4. The following Article 7a is inserted:

‘Article 7a

Transitional provisions

this Regulation, and aid granted under

Aid schemes implemented before the date of entry into
such
force of
schemes, in the absence of a Commission authorisation and
in breach of the notification requirement of Article 88(3) of
the Treaty, shall be compatible with the common market
within the meaning of Article 87(3) of the Treaty and shall
be exempt if they fulfil the conditions laid down in Article
3(2)(a) and Article 3(3) of this Regulation.

Individual aid outside any scheme granted before the date of
entry into force of this Regulation,
in the absence of a
Commission authorisation and in breach of the notification
requirement of Article 88(3) of the Treaty, shall be compa-

tible with the common market within the meaning of
Article 87(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempt if it fulfils all
the conditions of this Regulation, except the requirement in
Article 3(1) that express reference be made to this Regu-
lation.

Any aid which does not fulfil these conditions shall be
assessed by the Commission in accordance with the relevant
frameworks, guidelines, communications and notices.’

5. Annex I is deleted.

Article 2

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

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

Done at Brussels, 25 February 2004.

For the Commission

Mario MONTI

Member of the Commission