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: 2010-10-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Belgium, Cyprus, France, Spain, State aid, aid to agriculture, control of State aid, small and medium-sized enterprises








C_2010285EN.01000701.xml










21.10.2010   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 285/7





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 285/03
Aid No: XA 89/10
Member State: Belgium
Region: Vlaanderen
Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Vlaamse Confederatie van het Paard vzw
Legal basis: Decreet van 18 december 2009 houdende de algemene uitgavenbegroting van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap voor het begrotingsjaar 2010;
Koninklijk besluit van 10 december 1992 betreffende de verbetering van paardachtigen;
Ministerieel besluit van 23 december 1992 betreffende de verbetering van paardachtigen;
Ministerieel besluit houdende de toekenning van een facultatieve subsidie aan de Vlaamse Confederatie van het Paard vzw voor het werkingsjaar 2010.
Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 0,078 million
Maximum aid intensity: Up to 100 % of the administrative costs of establishing and maintaining herd books
Date of implementation: Aid may be granted as from 1 June and, at the earliest, 15 days after submission of an application.
Aid can be granted by means of an implementing decree. These decrees are drawn up annually. A draft implementing decree has yet to be drawn up and will include a ‘standstill’ clause.
Duration of scheme or individual aid award: The grant period will run until 31 December 2010.
Objective of aid: The approved body Vlaamse Confederatie van het Paard vzw (VCP) specifies that the subsidy will be used to cover the administrative costs involved in the establishment and maintenance of herd books of horses and donkeys.
The aid is to be granted under Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 and fulfils the conditions thereof.
Article 16(1)(a): aid at a rate of up to 100 % to cover the administrative costs of the establishment and maintenance of herd books.
Sector(s) concerned: Livestock
Name and address of the granting authority: 





Departement Landbouw en Visserij




Duurzame Landbouwontwikkeling




Ellips, 6e verdieping




Boulevard Roi Albert II/Koning Albert II laan 35, bus 40




1030 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË




Website: http://lv.vlaanderen.be/nlapps/docs/default.asp?id=134
Other information: —


Jules VAN LIEFFERINGE

Secretaris-generaal



Aid No: XA 108/10
Member State: France
Region: Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur
Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Aide au nettoyage des serres verre détruites par la neige du 8 janvier 2010 en Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur
Legal basis: Articles L 1511-2, L 3231-2 et 3232-1 du Code Général des Collectivités Territoriales; arrêtés du ministre de l’alimentation, de l’agriculture et de la pêche de reconnaissance du caractère de calamité naturelle du 7 mai 2010; délibération du Conseil Régional Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: Maximum overall amount: EUR 150 000
Maximum aid intensity: No more than 20 % to 40 %, subject to the limits of the authorised public funding
Date of implementation: 2010, from the date of publication of the identification number of the exemption request on the website of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development
Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until 31 December 2011
Objective of aid: The measure is covered by Article 11 (Aid for losses due to adverse climatic events) of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.
On 8 January 2010 there was particularly heavy snowfall to the north of Bouches-du-Rhône and the south of Vaucluse. The heavy snow had disastrous consequences for a number of farmers, in particular for greenhouse production.
After an investigation carried out by the government departments on the affected areas, an ‘agricultural disasters’ procedure was launched.
The agricultural disasters procedure concerns exceptionally serious, non-insurable damage resulting from abnormal variations in the intensity of a natural agent. Under certain conditions of individual eligibility, recognition of an event as being an agricultural disaster allows compensation for non-insurable agricultural damage to be provided from the National Guarantee Fund for Agricultural Disasters.
This procedure does not provide for clearing of land littered with the fragments of the shattered glass structures. However, a resumption of agricultural activity on the land in question is inconceivable without such clearance.
Thus, the Region intends to introduce a system of aid to farms having greenhouse crops so as to enable them to rapidly clean the areas with a view to recultivation. The implementation of this system is coordinated with the publication of the interministerial decree acknowledging that the incident in question is an agricultural disaster.
This system consists of direct aid to the producer in order to cover some of the costs associated with clearing the greenhouse fragments. Farmers are free to choose the external contractor. The services performed by farmers themselves will not be taken into account.
Aid will be offered only to farmers who have incurred, as a result of the climatic event occurring from 8 to 10 January 2010, losses of at least 30 % in relation to their average annual production in the preceding three years, or in the three average years, over the preceding five years. These losses recorded individually for each farm are converted to the benchmark established at departmental level, which corresponds to the return on a three-year average based on the preceding five-year period, excluding the highest and the lowest entry.
Compliance with this condition will be checked before this aid is granted. The aid is reserved for climatic events which can be assimilated to ‘natural disasters’ in accordance with Article 2(8) of the (EC) agricultural exemption regulation. To that end, the Region will in particular check before paying its aid that farmers have received aid from the National Guarantee Fund for Agricultural Disasters (FNGCA) under the above mentioned ‘arrêté’ of 7 May 2010. The fact that a farmer has received aid for natural disasters shows that the conditions described do indeed apply to him.
FNGCA aid (compensation) can be granted within the limits of the available budget only if the calculated production losses for each individual farm are greater than 30 % or 42 % if the production receives CAP coupled aid.
The proposed aid will be calculated based on the amount of admissible losses less costs not incurred because of the weather phenomenon recognised as a natural disaster.
As the total amount of public aid granted may not exceed 80 % of the eligible expenditure, this amount being halved if a farmer has no insurance, the rate of contribution of the Region has thus been fixed at half the maximum authorised rate, i.e. 40 %. This rate will be reduced to 20 % if a farmer has not taken out insurance covering at least 50 % of his mean annual production or of income related to production and the climatic risks of hail or frost.
The system will be directed primarily at farmers (individuals or companies) whose holdings meet the SME criteria under EU rules and the areas of which to be cleared are within the ranges included in the ‘arrêté’ which defines the perimeter and the types of agricultural production concerned. In order to qualify for Regional aid, farmers must undertake to recultivate the cleared areas.
Eligible expenditure includes the cost of the external service of clearing the fragments of the destroyed or damaged greenhouses. The eligible cost will be limited to a maximum of EUR 10 excluding tax per m2 . In any event, eligible expenditure will be reduced by any amount received under an insurance policy covering the same services. The total amount of the aid granted by the Region will be limited to EUR 20 000 per farm (40 % Regional aid rate). This amount will be reduced to EUR 10 000 for uninsured farms (20 % Regional aid rate).
Before the aid is paid, the Region may carry out on-site inspection visits to check that the clearance and the recultivation of the cleaned-up land have been completed.
The region will check the ceiling on public aid for Bouches-du-Rhône farms also receiving aid from the General Council in order to ensure that the aid ceiling set in Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 is not exceeded.
Sector(s) concerned: Agricultural holdings engaged in production in greenhouses and located, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, in the municipalities referred to in the above mentioned national legislation of 7 May 2010 and SME holdings.
Name and address of the granting authority: 





Monsieur le Président du Conseil Régional Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur




Direction de l’Environnement et du Développement Durable




Service Agriculture et Développement rural




27 Place Jules Guesde




13481 Marseille Cedex 20




FRANCE




Website: http://www.regionpaca.fr/index.php?calamite_agricole
Other information: —
Aid No: XA 112/10
Member State: Spain
Region: Cataluña
Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Ayudas al programa de genotipado ovino
Legal basis: Proyecto de Orden AAR/…/2010, de …, por la que se aprueban las bases reguladoras de las ayudas para el desarrollo del Programa nacional de genotipado ovino, y se convocan las correspondientes al año 2010
Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The maximum amount provided for the 2010-12 three-year period is EUR 250 000.
Maximum aid intensity: Gross aid intensity must not exceed:
50 % of the cost of applying the genetic selection programme,
50 % of the market price of the animal on the date of its destruction or castration.
Date of implementation: The aid scheme will be implemented from the date on which the identification number of the exemption request provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 is published on the website of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development.
Duration of scheme or individual aid award: 2010-12
Objective of aid: Development of the national genetic selection programme to achieve scrapie resistance (TSE in sheep and goats) via the following initiatives:
This scheme complies with the provisions of Articles 10(1) and 16 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty on 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).
The aid must not involve direct payments to producers.
Sector(s) concerned: Depending on the activity subsidised:
Breeders’ organisations that satisfy the requirements established by law
NACE code 01.45: Raising of sheep and goats
Name and address of the granting authority: 





Generalitat de Catalunya




Departament d’Agricultura, Alimentació i Acció Rural




Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 612-614




08007 Barcelona




ESPAÑA




Website: http://www20.gencat.cat/docs/DAR/DE_Departament/DE03_Normativa/DE03_04_Ajuts_estat/2010/Documents/Fitxers_estatics/genotipatge.pdf
Other information: 





Direcció General d’Agricultura i Ramaderia




Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 612-614




08007 Barcelona




ESPAÑA




Aid No: XA 125/10
Member State: Spain
Region: Castilla-La Mancha
Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Ayudas para la recuperación del viñedo afectado por las precipitaciones en forma de pedrisco acaecidas en 2009
Legal basis: Orden de 23.2.2010, de la Consejería de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural, por la que se establecen las bases reguladoras y la convocatoria de ayudas para la recuperación del viñedo afectado por las precipitaciones en forma de pedrisco acaecidas en 2009. Corrección de errores de 28.6.2010 de la Consejería de Agricultura y Medio Ambiente, a la Orden de 23.2.2010, de la Consejería de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural
Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 300 000 (single payment)
Maximum aid intensity: 31 % of the damage
Date of implementation: From the date on which the identification number of the exemption request is published 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: To compensate for the reduction in income from the sale of the product due to the adverse climatic event and to help with the costs incurred by farmers as a result of that event (cost of pruning and regenerating the affected parts of the vine, cost of cicatrising and cryptogamic treatments to prevent fungal attack), in accordance with Article 11(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006
Sector(s) concerned: Crop production: vines
Name and address of the granting authority: 





Consejería de Agricultura y Medio Ambiente




C/ Pintor Matías Moreno, 4




45004 Toledo




ESPAÑA




Website: http://docm.jccm.es/portaldocm/descargarArchivo.do?ruta=2010/02/26/pdf/2010_3316.pdf&tipo=rutaDocm
http://docm.jccm.es/portaldocm/descargarArchivo.do?ruta=2010/07/06/pdf/2010_11017.pdf&tipo=rutaDocm
Other information: —
Aid No: XA 126/10
Member State: Cyprus
Region: Kipros
Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Σχέδιο εθελοντικού προγράμματος ελέγχου της Λοιμώδους Αγαλαξίας
Legal basis: 






1.


Νόμος που προνοεί για την Υγεία των Ζώων [Ν. 109(Ι)2001].










2.


Απόφαση του Εφόρου Ελέγχου Κρατικών Ενισχύσεων για το Μέτρο: Ε.Ε.Κ.Ε. 25.06.002.319 (788.2.1.23.1.1.12).










3.


Καθορισμός Γνωστοποιητέων Νόσων σύμφωνα με το άρθρο 8 του περί Υγείας των Ζώων Νόμου (Νόμος Αρ. 109 του 2001) που δημοσιεύθηκε στην Επίσημη Εφημερίδα της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας με Ανακοίνωση του Διευθυντή των Κτηνιατρικών Υπηρεσιών (Επίσημη Εφημερίδα της 23ης Απριλίου 2010 με Αρ. 1332, σελ. 1655) όπου περιλαμβάνεται η λοιμώδης αγαλαξία. Σύμφωνα με το άρθρο 4(1) του Ν. 109(Ι)/2001, η Αρμόδια Αρχή έχει εξουσία και αρμοδιότητα να εκπονεί και εφαρμόζει ειδικά προγράμματα και να καταρτίζει ειδικά σχέδια αντιμετώπισης ζωικών ασθενειών. Οι ενισχύσεις εντάσσονται στο πλαίσιο προγράμματος που έχει εκδοθεί δυνάμει του άρθρου αυτού.




Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: Expenditure scheduled for 2010 amounts to EUR 23 627,5. It is estimated that the same amount will be needed for 2011.
Maximum aid intensity: 100 %
Date of implementation: The programme will be implemented only after it has been published by the European Commission in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.
Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until 31 December 2011
Objective of aid: Control of contagious ovine/caprine agalactia, with a view to officially identifying the holdings that are free from the disease: the scheme concerns the free provision of tests falling within the aid authorised under Article 10(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.
Sector(s) concerned: The beneficiaries of aid under this scheme are sheep and goat farmers in the areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus.
The aid under the voluntary control programme for contagious ovine/caprine agalactia is aimed at farmers who voluntarily submit a request to be included in the scheme, with a view to officially establishing that their holdings are free from contagious ovine/caprine agalactia.
Name and address of the granting authority: 





Κτηνιατρικές Υπηρεσίες (Ktiniatrikes Ipiresies)




Υπουργείο Γεωργίας, Φυσικών Πόρων και Περιβάλλοντος (Ipouryio Yeoryias, Fisikon Poron ke Perivallondos)




Αθαλάσσας (Athalassas)




1417 Λευκωσία/Nicosia




ΚYΠΡΟΣ/CYPRUS




Website: http://www.moa.gov.cy/moa/vs/vs.nsf/All/12298EAFA3C68A3F42257754003D9AF5/$file/εεκε%20κειμενο%20μετρου%202010%20λοιμώδης%20αγαλαξία%2026072010%201.pdf
http://www.publicaid.gov.cy/publicaid/publicaid.nsf/All/61C9E6540752A1EAC225775400379B88/$file/ΑΠΟΦΑΣΗ%20319.pdf
Other information: 






1.


The diseases are included in the list of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). The beneficiaries of the aid under the scheme are sheep and goat farmers in the areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus who voluntarily join the scheme by submitting a correctly filled out binding statement, as provided for in the scheme.










2.


The scheme applies to small and medium-sized enterprises as defined in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Large enterprises are excluded from the scope of the scheme. State aid for combating animal diseases can be provided to large undertakings if it is notified in advance to the Commission for approval under Chapter V.B.4 of the Community Guidelines for State Aid in the Agriculture and Forestry Sector 2007 to 2013.










3.


The scheme applies exclusively to the primary production of agricultural products. Therefore, undertakings that engage in the marketing and/or processing of agricultural products (e.g. animal traders, butchers) do not fall within the scope of the scheme. The definitions of the marketing and processing of agricultural products are set out in Article 2(3) and (4) of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.










4.


The aid will be provided only for activities engaged in or services received after the scheme is set up and published in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006. An application must be submitted to the competent authority and the aid itself is granted for activities engaged in and services received only if the following conditions are met: (a) the aid scheme must have been set up and published in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006, (b) an aid application must have been duly submitted to the competent authority, (c) the application must have been accepted by the competent authority concerned in a manner which obliges that authority to grant the aid, clearly indicating the amount of aid to be granted or how this amount will be calculated; such acceptance by the competent authority may only be made if the budget available for the aid or aid scheme is not exhausted.










5.


The disease is included in legal provisions and payment of the aid is made as part of a public programme at national level as mentioned above under the paragraph entitled Legal Basis, in application of Article 10(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.










6.


The aid must not relate to a disease in respect of which Community legislation provides for specific charges for control measures.










7.


The aid must not relate to measures in respect of which Community legislation provides that their cost is to be borne by the agricultural holding.