Commission Regulation (EC) No 1976/2006 of 20 December 2006 amending Regulations (EC) No 2204/2002, (EC) No 70/2001 and (EC) No 68/2001 as regards the extension of the periods of application   (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2006-12-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: State aid, aid to undertakings, employment aid, small and medium-sized enterprises, vocational training

23.12.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 368/85

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1976/2006

of 20 December 2006

amending Regulations (EC) No 2204/2002, (EC) No 70/2001 and (EC) No 68/2001 as regards the
extension of the periods of application

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

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 points (a)(i), (ii),(iv) and
point (b) of Article 1(1) thereof,

(3)

(4)

Having published a draft of this Regulation,

extend the period of application of Regulations (EC) No
2204/2002,
(EC) No 70/2001 and (EC) No 68/2001
until 30 June 2008.

Regulations (EC) No 2204/2002, (EC) No 70/2001 and
(EC) No 68/2001 should
amended
accordingly.

therefore be

In addition it is appropriate not to request Member States
to send in new summary information sheets for measures
which are prolonged under this Regulation without being
modified in substance,

After consulting the Advisory Committee on State Aid,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2204/2002 of 12
December 2002 on the application of Articles 87 and
88 of the EC Treaty to State aid for employment (2),
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 (3)
and Commission Regulation (EC) No
68/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the application of
Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to training aid (4)
will expire on 31 December 2006.
In its State Aid
Action Plan (5) the Commission has proposed regrouping
these Regulations in one single block exemption Regu-
lation and possibly adding other areas referred to in
Article 1 and 2 of Regulation (EC) No 994/98.

The contents of the future block exemption Regulation
depends in particular on the results of the public consul-
tations initiated by the State aid action plan on less and
better targeted State aid: a roadmap for State aid reform
2005 (6) and the consultation paper on aid for inno-
vation. Discussions with representatives of Member
States are also necessary in order to define the categories
of aid which might be considered compatible with the
Treaty. In order to proceed with the current consultations
is appropriate to
their results,
and the analysis of

it

(1) OJ L 142, 14.5.1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 337, 13.12.2002, p. 3. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 1040/2006 (OJ L 187, 8.7.2006, p. 8).

(3) OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 33. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 1040/2006.

(4) OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 20. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 1040/2006.

(5) COM(2005) 107 final.
(6) COM(2005) 436 final.

Article 1

In Article 11(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2204/2002, the second
sentence is replaced by the following:

‘It shall apply until 30 June 2008’.

Article 2

In Article 10(1) of Regulation (EC) No 70/2001, the second
sentence is replaced by the following:

‘It shall apply until 30 June 2008’.

Article 3

In Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 68/2001, the second
sentence is replaced by the following:

‘It shall apply until 30 June 2008’.

Article 4

The obligation to communicate summary information sheets on
measures implemented, pursuant to Article 7(1) of Regulation
(EC) No 68/2001, Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 70/2001
and Article 10(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2204/2002 shall not
apply to State aid measures prolonging existing measures
pursuant
substantive
amendment is made to such measures and that summary infor-
mation sheets were duly submitted on the implementation of
such measures.

this Regulation,

provided

no

to

L 368/86

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

23.12.2006

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

Article 5

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

Done at Brussels, 20 December 2006.

For the Commission

Neelie KROES
Member of the Commission