2007/335/EC: Commission Decision of 21 March 2007 on State aid scheme C 18/2006 (ex N 524/2005) (which Italy was planning to implement for small and micro enterprises) (notified under document number C(2007) 1175) (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2007-03-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Italy, State aid, control of State aid, micro-enterprise, small business, tax relief

16.5.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 128/43

(Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is not obligatory)

II

DECISIONS

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 21 March 2007

on State aid scheme C 18/2006 (ex N 524/2005) (which Italy was planning to implement for small
and micro enterprises)

(notified under document number C(2007) 1175)

(Only the Italian version is authentic)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2007/335/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
establishing the European
Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article
88(2) thereof,

Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic
Area, and in particular Article 62(1)(a) thereof,

Having called on interested parties to submit their comments
pursuant to those provisions (1),

Whereas:

I. PROCEDURE

(1)

By letter of 18 October 2005 the Italian authorities
notified the Commission of
the above aid scheme.
They provided the Commission with further information
by letters of 20 December 2005, 13 March 2006 and 27
March 2006. The Commission requested additional infor-
mation by letters of 10 November 2005 and 8 February
2006.

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

By letter of 16 May 2006, the Commission informed
Italy that it had decided to initiate the procedure laid
down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty in respect of
the aid measure.

The Commission decision to initiate the procedure was
published in the Official Journal of the European Union (2).
The Commission called on interested parties to submit
their comments.

Italy submitted its comments by letter of 23 June 2006,
in which it announced its intention to submit further
observations on a specific aspect.

No interested parties submitted comments during the
procedure.

The Commission asked for supplementary information
by letters of 21 September 2006 and 10 January 2007.

By letter of 30 January 2007, registered as received by
the Commission on 2 February 2007, Italy informed the
Commission that
the notified measure had been
withdrawn.

(1) OJ C 146, 22.6.2006, p. 18.

(2) See footnote 1.

L 128/44

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

16.5.2007

(8)

(9)

(10)

II. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE MEASURE

IV. ASSESSMENT

The objective of the measure was to promote the growth
of small and micro enterprises resulted from an aggre-
gation process (merger with or acquisition of other small
and micro enterprises) by means of a tax credit. The
budget foreseen for the notified measure was EUR 120
million for 2006, EUR 242 million for 2007 and EUR
122 million for 2008.

(12)

Following the withdrawal of
procedure no longer has any relevance.

the notification,

the

V. CONCLUSION

(13)

The Commission has therefore decided to close the
procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty
on the ground that
it no longer has any relevance
following the withdrawal of the measure by Italy,

The legal basis of the measure is Article 2 of Decree Law
No 106 of 17 June 2005, converted into Law No 156 of
31 July 2005.
It contains a standstill clause. The aid
scheme has not been put in place.

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Italy already enacted a similar measure in 2005 (3) under
the Block Exemption Regulation for aid to SMEs (4). That
version limits the tax credit to 50 % of the consultancy
costs for the merger and acquisition process. The Italian
authorities have indicated that, given this ceiling,
the
take-up of the measure has been limited, with 132 appli-
cations for a total tax credit of EUR 3 442 261. Only 46
applications were accepted for a total amount of tax
credit of EUR 415 306.

the
After the withdrawal by Italy of
present
relevance. The
procedure no
Commission has therefore decided to close the procedure
initiated under Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty.

the notified measure,
has

longer

any

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Republic of Italy.

III. COMMENTS FROM ITALY

Done in Brussels, 21 March 2007.

(11)

the Italian authorities
By letter of 30 January 2007,
informed the Commission that
this
the budget
measure has been used for other purposes and that the
notified measure had not been implemented as it had
been withdrawn.

for

For the Commission

Neelie KROES
Member of the Commission

(3) Based on Article 9 of Decree Law No 35/2005, converted into Law
No 80/2005, registered with the Commission on 21 April 2005
under reference XS 89/05.

(4) 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 (OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 33).