Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production of agricultural products and amending Regulation (EC) No 70/2001
Date: 2010-09-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Cyprus, France, Italy, State aid, aid to agriculture, control of State aid, small and medium-sized enterprises








C_2010240EN.01000201.xml










7.9.2010   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 240/2





Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production of agricultural products and amending Regulation (EC) No 70/2001
2010/C 240/02
Aid No: XA 81/10
Member State: Italy
Region: Veneto
Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Progetti formativi rivolti a favore delle piccole medie imprese attive nella produzione di prodotti agricoli
Legal basis: L. 845/1978 «Legge quadro in materia di formazione professionale»;
L.R. n. 10 del 30.1.1990«Ordinamento del sistema della formazione professionale e organizzazione delle politiche regionali del lavoro»;
DGR n. 2551 del 7 agosto 2007
Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: Committed amounts: EUR 1 500 000
Maximum aid intensity: 100 %
Date of implementation: As from the publication of the registration number of the request for exemption on the website of the Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development.
Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until 31 December 2010
Objective of aid: Technical support (Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006):
Aid will serve to provide vocational training for farmers in the following areas:
training for the purposes of achieving authorisation for the purchase and use of plant protection products,
training leading to the award of a trade qualification or certificate of competency as referred to in applicable legislation and for which the training element or skills updating element is of prime importance,
training to update or perfect subject-knowledge,
training with a view to acquiring adequate ‘occupational skill and competence’ as referred to in Community legislation and/or the certification referred to in Legislative Decree No 99/2004 (professional farmer).
Sector(s) concerned: Agriculture, fisheries, forestry
Name and address of the granting authority: 





Regione del Veneto




Palazzo Balbi — Dorsoduro 3901




30123 Venezia VE




ITALIA




Tel. +39 412795030




Fax +39 412795085




E-mail: dir.formazione@regione.veneto.it




Website: http://www.regione.veneto.it/Servizi+alla+Persona/Formazione+e+Lavoro/ModulisticaREG.htm
Other information: For more information please contact:
Direzione Regionale Formazione
Fondamenta S. Lucia, Cannaregio 23
30121 Venezia VE
ITALIA
Tel. +39 412795029 / 412795030
Fax +39 412795085
E-mail: dir.formazione@regione.veneto.it
Aid No: XA 99/10
Member State: France
Region: Département de Loir-et-Cher
Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Aide à la reconstruction des abris contre le froid des maraîchers, fortement endommagés suite au passage de la tempête Xynthia dans la nuit du 27 au 28 février 2010
Legal basis: Articles L 1511-1 et suivants, article L 4211-1 du Code général des collectivités territoriales
Délibération du Conseil général de Loir-et-Cher
Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 200 000 maximum
Maximum aid intensity: From 10 % to 45 %. The rate of assistance will be measured so as to respect the upper limit of public aid, taking into account possible public aid allocated by other bodies and the possibility of an insurance payout.
Date of implementation: From receipt of the acknowledgement of receipt showing the identification number of the measure and publication of the summary of the measure on the Commission’s website.
Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until 31 December 2010
Objective of aid: The objective of this measure will be to provide aid for reconstructing or restoring covers against the cold that were severely damaged following the storm Xynthia during the night of 27 to 28 February 2010.
Hoops were twisted or broken, tarpaulins split or blown away. Faced with the severity of the harsh cold that still persisted at the beginning of March, market gardeners, mainly strawberry and white asparagus producers, had to urgently recover their crops, thereby incurring heavy and unanticipated expenses.
The department of Loire-et-Cher will thus provide aid of a maximum of 40 % of the purchase costs for hoops (maximum 45 % in the less-favoured area), with the costs being estimated at EUR 4 000 per hectare. This measure will concern a maximum of 50 farms.
An aid scheme for farmers, who were victims of marine floods caused by the storm Xynthia on 28 February 2010 in the departments of Vendée, Charente-Maritime and in the north of Gironde, based on points 120 to 123 of the agricultural guidelines, was submitted by the French authorities and approved by the Commission on 17 June 2010 (scheme N 209/10).
The aid project put forward by the Conseil général of Loir-et-Cher is, itself based on Article 11 of the agricultural exemption regulation relating to adverse weather conditions, since in this department, the violent storm had the character of an adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to the examples given in Article 2(8) of the Regulation. ‘weather conditions such as frost, hail, ice, rain or drought which destroy more than 30 % …’. In the past, the department of Drôme had had the Commission register the schemes XA 302/08 and XA 53/09 in similar circumstances.
A very clear differentiation must be made between the events registered in the above-mentioned areas of the three departments of the Atlantic coast, on the one hand, and in Loir-et-Cher, on the other.
In Vendée, Charente-Maritime and the north of Gironde and only there, the ground was flooded and the soil degraded, causing long-term damage. The extent, the gravity and the specificity of the damage caused to the soil by the storm Xynthia led to the provision of aid under points 120 and following of the agricultural guidelines. Like earthquakes, avalanches and landslides, floods are considered to come under the ‘natural disasters’, referred to, with ‘exceptional occurrences’, in Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
The rest of the French territory was not spared by this violent storm. In the department of Loir-et-Cher, the storm also caused considerable damage to the premises of market gardeners, who will incur heavy expenses to replace that equipment.
There are no similarities between the expenditure for which the aid is intended in the notified and approved scheme (N 209/10) and the exempted scheme, nor at the level of the beneficiaries, who are farmers from very different regions. There is therefore no risk of the accumulation of aid between the two schemes.
This aid will be paid exclusively to:
farms whose size does not exceed that of an SME as defined in Community Law (cf. Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 (OJ L 214, 9.8.2008),
farms that are enterprises active in the primary production of agricultural products,
and farms that are not enterprises in difficulty within the meaning of the Community guidelines on State aid for the rescue and restructuring of companies in difficulty (OJ C 244, 1.10.2004).
Sector(s) concerned: market garden enterprises (SMEs)
Name and address of the granting authority: 





Conseil général de Loir-et-Cher




Service Agriculture-Environnement




Place de la République




41020 Blois Cedex




FRANCE




Website: http://le-loir-et-cher.fr/jahia/cg41/Accueil/toutes-les-actualites-du-conseil-general/aide_exceptionnelle_exploitations_maraicheres.html
Other information: —
Aid No: XA 104/10
Member State: Cyprus
Region: The scheme will be implemented in all areas of Cyprus that are under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus
Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual an aid: Σχέδιο για καταβολή κρατικής ενίσχυσης προς τον Κυπριακό Σύνδεσμο Εκτροφέων Βοοειδών της φυλής Holstein-Friesian
Legal basis: 






A.


Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production of agricultural products and amending Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 (OJ L 358, 16.12.2006, p. 3).










B.


Προϋπολογισμοί για τα έτη: 2011-2012-2013, Kεφάλαιο 12.02. Τμήμα Γεωργίας. άρθρο 04207.3 — Άλλες Γεωργοκτηνοτροφικές Επιχορηγήσεις με το τίτλο: Προώθηση δημιουργίας και λειτουργίας Συνδέσμων Εκτροφέων Βοοειδών.










C.


Απόφαση Εφόρου Ελέγχου Κρατικών Ενισχύσεων με Αρ. 318 (Επίσημη Εφημερίδα της Δημοκρατίας ημερομ. 7 Μαΐου 2010, Αρ. 1508, σ. 1774).




The measure is a continuation of the measure approved by Decision of the Commissioner for State Aid and Control No 251 of 31 August 2006, as amended by Decision of the Inspector No 278 of 11 October 2007, which expires on 31 December 2010 and concerns the same beneficiary, criteria for participation and eligible activities (Government Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus No 4223 of 19.10.2007, p. 6711). Aid No XA 395/07 (OJ C 101, 23.4.2008, p. 30).
Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The scheme will be implemented over a three-year period (2011-2013) and maximum total expenditure will be EUR 123 018.
Maximum aid intensity: 






(a)


Up to EUR 30 000 over the three-year period (2011: EUR 9 000, 2012: EUR 10 000, 2013: EUR 11 000) to cover part of the administrative cost of keeping a Holstein-Friesian herd book.










(b)


Up to EUR 93 018 over the three-year period (2011: EUR 32 006, 2012: EUR 31 006, 2013: EUR 30 006) to cover part, up to 70 %, of the cost of chemical analyses performed by or on behalf of third parties to determine the fat and protein content and/or somatic cell count of samples of milk taken from cows belonging to the Association's members.




Date of implementation: 
Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Three years: 2011-2013
Objective of aid: The purpose of the scheme is to provide financial support for the Cyprus Holstein-Friesian Cattle Farmers Association so that it can accomplish its tasks. State aid will be paid to:
The scheme falls within the scope of Article 16(1)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 (‘Support for the livestock sector’).
Sector(s) concerned: Cattle farming
Cyprus Holstein-Friesian Cattle Farmers Association
Name and address of the granting authority: 





Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment




Nicosia




CYPRUS




Tel. +357 22408519




Fax +357 22781425




E-mail: doagrg@da.moa.gov.cy




Website: http://www.moa.gov.cy/moa/da/da.nsf/All/88C1EC43D1CCEA04C22573BF0029064C/$file/KratikiEnishisiVooeidonL1003311.pdf
Other information: The Association has embarked on the genetic improvement of the Holstein-Friesian breed, which will have important economic implications for the cattle farming sector. The herd will be genetically improved by artificially inseminating cows with semen from bulls of high genetic quality. This will increase the animals’ productivity and improve their somatometric features.
Aid No: XA 116/10
Member State: Italy
Region: Veneto
Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Campagna straordinaria di formazione per la diffusione della cultura della salute e della sicurezza. Art. 11, comma 7 — D.Lgs 81/2008 — imprese attive nella produzione di prodotti agricoli
Legal basis: L.R. n. 10 del 30.1.1990«Ordinamento del sistema della formazione professionale e organizzazione delle politiche regionali del lavoro»;
D.Lgs n. 81/2008 «Attuazione dell’art. 1 della L. 123/2008 in materia di tutela della salute e della sicurezza nei luoghi di lavoro» e ssii
DGR n. 277 del 9 febbraio 2010 — DDR n. 534 dell’1 giugno 2010
Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: Committed amounts: EUR 545 603
Maximum aid intensity: 100 %
Date of implementation: As from the publication of the registration number of the request for exemption on the website of the Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development.
Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until 31 December 2013
Objective of aid: Technical support (Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006):
The aid is intended to fund an Intensive Training Campaign to raise health and safety awareness (Article 11(7) of Legislative Decree No 81/2008) among undertakings that produce agricultural products.
Sector(s) concerned: Agriculture, forestry, fisheries
Name and address of the granting authority: 





Regione del Veneto




Palazzo Balbi — Dorsoduro 3901




30123 Venezia VE




ITALIA




Tel. +39 412795030




Fax +39 412795085




E-mail: dir.formazione@regione.veneto.it




Website: http://www.regione.veneto.it/Servizi+alla+Persona/Formazione+e+Lavoro/ModulisticaREG.htm
Click on the link ‘campagna straordinaria formazione e sicurezza’
Other information: For more information please contact:
Direzione Regionale Formazione
Fondamenta S. Lucia, Cannaregio 23
30121 Venezia VE
ITALIA
Tel. +39 412795029 / 412795030
Fax +39 412795085
E-mail: dir.formazione@regione.veneto.it
Aid No: XA 118/10
Member State: Italy
Region: Basilicata
Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Sostegno delle aziende agricole per l'abbattimento di frutteti colpiti da Sharka
Legal basis: 






—


Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000 on protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community and in particular Article 16(1).










—


Legge 1 luglio 1997, n. 206 Norme in favore delle produzioni agricole danneggiate da organismi nocivi.










—


Decreto del ministero delle politiche agricole, alimentari e forestali del 28 luglio 2009 recante lotta obbligatoria per il controllo del virus Plum pox virus (PPV), agente della «Vaiolatura delle drupacee» (Sharka).










—


Delibera di Giunta Regionale n. 485 del 12 marzo 2010.




Misure regionali di sostegno delle aziende frutticole colpite da «Vaiolatura delle drupacee» Sharka, causate dall’agente patogeno Plum pox virus. Approvazione criteri e modulistica e contestuale apertura bando.
Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The total budget of the aid scheme for the entire period from 30 May 2010 to 31 March 2012 amounts to EUR 84 054.
Maximum aid intensity: The aid is proportionate to the market value of the destroyed plants and the income losses due to quarantine obligations and difficulties in replanting.
The plants destroyed may not be over eight years old.
The compensation amounts are fixed as follows:
The minimum amount payable per individual beneficiary is fixed at EUR 250. No aid will therefore be granted for lower amounts.
Date of implementation: 
Duration of scheme or individual aid award: 
Objective of aid: The virus (Plum pox virus) responsible for the disease known as Sharka is acknowledged to be a harmful organism requiring quarantine. The ban upon introducing it into the European Union and into Italy and against its spread is laid down by Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000 and by Legislative Decree No 214 of 19 August 2005 respectively.
The gravity of this disease is such that the Ministry of Agricultural Policy, Food and Forestry issued the Decree of 28 July 2009 on the mandatory combat to control the Plum pox virus (PPV), which causes Sharka.
The aim of the aid measures is prevention and eradication:
prevention, by using certified nursery material that is virus free for replanting,
eradication of infected plants and orchards.
In accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006, in order to save regional fruit production, Italy has decided to continue what was done in 2008 and to set up an aid scheme to compensate fruit producers for the costs of preventing plant diseases and to eradicate outbreaks.
Sector(s) concerned: Apricot, peach and nectarine orchards.
Name and address of the granting authority: Regione Basilicata — Dipartimento agricoltura, sviluppo rurale, economia montana
Website: http://www.regione.basilicata.it/dipagricoltura/default.cfm?fuseaction=doc&dir=2906&doc=4593&link=
Other information: In 2009 a total of 2 003 plants were officially certified as being infected with Sharka and promptly grubbed-up. These plants were located in the municipalities of Bernalda and Policoro, in the province of Matera.