21.12.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
L 327/11
(63)
To ensure coherence with Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 and to achieve simplification of the rules to obtain State aid clearance for the co-financed part and the additional national financing of the CAP Strategic Plan, the notification requirement should not apply to various categories of aid in favour of SMEs active in rural areas, encompassing aid for basic services and infrastructures, for business start-ups, for cooperation, new participation of farmers in quality schemes for cotton and foodstuff and information and promotion measures in favour of foodstuffs covered by a quality scheme.
Such aid measures should be identical to the underlying rural devel­ opment interventions and the exempted aid should only be granted pursuant to and in conformity with the CAP Strategic Plan of the Member State concerned.
(64)
The Commission has applied Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty to aid in favour of basic services and infra­ structure in rural areas and for cooperation in rural areas in numerous cases, in particular in the framework of the 2014 Guidelines.
In the period from 2014 to 2020, the Commission has approved 27 aid schemes relating to basic services and infrastructure in rural areas and 28 aid schemes relating to cooperation in rural areas.
In the Commission’s experience, aid measures in favour of rural areas have not had any significant distortion of competition in the internal market, given the existence of clear compatibility criteria, and given that the aid has contributed to economic diversification and the creation of new economic activities.
It is therefore appro­ priate to exempt aids in favour of basic services and infrastructure in rural areas and aid for cooperation in rural areas from the State aid notification requirement.
(65)
However, aid in favour of basic services and infrastructure in rural areas and aid for cooperation in rural areas should be exempted from the notification requirement only if it forms part of a CAP Strategic Plan validated by the Commission in the framework of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115.
(66)
State aid granted to SMEs participating in community-led local development (‘CLLD’) projects, referred to in Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council (16) and designated as ‘LEADER’ under Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, has little impact on competition, in particular, in view of the positive role the aid plays for sharing knowledge, especially for local and agricultural communities, as well as the often collective nature of the aid, and its relatively small scale.
The nature of these projects is integrated, multi-actor and multi-sector, which can lead to certain difficulties for their classification under State aid law.
Given the local nature of individual CLLD projects, selected on the basis of a multi-annual local development strategy determined and implemented by public-private partnership and their orientation to community, social, environmental and climate interest, this Regulation should address certain difficulties faced by CLLD projects in order to facilitate their compliance with State aid rules.
Municipalities, by their very nature, fall outside the scope of the SME definition (public shareholding).
However, municipalities often play a vital role in the organisation and realisation of CLLD projects.
Where a CLLD project is carried out in favour of one of the objectives set out in Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2015/1588, it should therefore be possible to block-exempt also aid to municipalities in the context of such project.
(67)
Given the limited effect on trade and competition of small amounts of aid granted to SMEs benefitting, directly or indirectly from CLLD projects, simple rules for cases where the aggregate amount of aid per project does not exceed a certain ceiling should be laid down.
This should also apply to municipalities benefiting directly or indirectly from CLLD projects, which pursue one of the objectives set out in Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2015/1588.
(68)
In the case of several categories of aid, such as research, knowledge transfer and information including through EU Space-based data and services, advisory services, farm replacement services, promotion and prevention and eradication of animal diseases and plant pests, the aid is granted to the final aid beneficiaries indirectly, in kind, in the form of subsidized services.
In such cases, the exempted aid should be paid to the provider of the service or activity in question.
(69)
In accordance with Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 2015/1588, it is necessary to periodically revise State aid policy.
That is why the period of application of this Regulation should be limited.
It is therefore appropriate to lay down transitional provisions, including the rules on an adjustment period at the end of validity of this Regulation for exempted aid schemes.
Such rules should give Member States time to adapt to the new regime,
(16) Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, p. 159).