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

14.5.1998 EN Official Journal of the European Communities L 142/1
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
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 94 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
After consulting the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),
(1) Whereas, pursuant to Article 94 of the Treaty, the Council may make any appropriate regulations for the application of Articles 92 and 93 and may, in particular, determine the conditions in which Article 93(3) shall apply and the categories of aid exempted from this procedure;
(2) Whereas, under the Treaty, the assessment of compatibility of aid with the common market essentially rests with the Commission;
(3) Whereas the proper functioning of the internal market requires strict and efficient application of the rules of competition with regard to State aids;
(4) Whereas the Commission has applied Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty in numerous decisions and has also stated its policy in a number of communications; whereas, in the light of the Commission's considerable experience in applying Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty and the general texts issued by the Commission on the basis of those provisions, it is appropriate, with a view to ensuring efficient supervision and simplifying administration, without weakening Commission monitoring, that the Commission should be enabled to declare by means of regulations, in areas where the Commission has sufficient experience to define general compatibility criteria, that certain categories of aid are compatible with the common market pursuant to one or more of the provisions of Article 92(2) and (3) of the Treaty and are exempted from the procedure provided for in Article 93(3) thereof;
(5) Whereas group exemption regulations will increase transparency and legal certainty, whereas they can be directly applied by national courts, without prejudice to Articles 5 and 177 of the Treaty;
(6) Whereas it is appropriate that the Commission, when it adopts regulations exempting categories of aid from the obligation to notify provided for in Article 93(3) of the Treaty, specifies the purpose of the aid, the categories of beneficiaries and thresholds limiting the exempted aid, the conditions governing the cumulation of aid and the conditions of monitoring, in order to ensure the compatibility with the common market of aid covered by this Regulation;
(7) Whereas it is appropriate to enable the Commission, when it adopts regulations exempting certain categories of aid from the obligation to notify in Article 93(3) of the Treaty, to attach further detailed conditions in order to ensure the compatibility with the common market of aid covered by this Regulation;
(8) Whereas it may be useful to set thresholds of other appropriate conditions requiring the notification of awards of aid in order to allow the Commission to examine individually the effect of certain aid on competition and trade between Member States and its compatibility with the common market;
(9) Whereas the Commission, having regard to the development and the functioning of the common market, should be enabled to establish by means of a regulation that certain aid does not fullfil all the criteria of Article 92(1) of the Treaty and is therefore exempted from the notification procedure laid down in Article 93(3), provided that aid granted to the same undertaking over a given period of time does not exceed a certain fixed amount;
(10) Whereas in accordance with Article 93(1) of the Treaty the Commission is under an obligation, in cooperation with Member States, to keep under constant review all systems of existing aid; whereas for this purpose and in order to ensure the largest possible degree of transparency and adequate control it is desirable that the Commission ensures the establishment of a reliable system of recording and storing information about the application of the regulations it adopts, to which all Member States have access, and that it receives all necessary information from the Member States on the implementation of aid exempted from notification to fulfil this obligation, which may be examined and evaluated with the Member States within the Advisory Committee; whereas for this purpose it is also desirable that the Commission may require such information to be supplied as is necessary to ensure the efficiency of such review;
(11) Whereas the control of the granting of aid involves factual, legal and economic issues of a very complex nature and great variety in a constantly evolving environment; whereas the Commission should therefore regularly review the categories of aid which should be exempted from notification; whereas the Commission should be able to repeal or amend regulations it has adopted pursuant to this Regulation where circumstances have changed with respect to any important element which constituted grounds for their adoption or where the progressive development or the functioning of the common market so requires;
(12) Whereas the Commission, in close and constant liaison with the Member States, should be able to define precisely the scope of these regulations and the conditions attached to them; whereas, in order to provide for cooperation between the Commission and the competent authorities of the Member States, it is appropriate to set up an advisory committee on State aid to be consulted before the Commission adopts regulations pursuant to this Regulation,