“(a)

schemes under Sections 1 (with the exception of Article 15), 2 (with the exception of Articles 19c and 19d), 3, 4, 7 (with the exception of Article 44) and 10 of Chapter III of this Regulation, if the average annual State aid budget per Member State exceeds EUR 150 million, from 6 months after their entry into force, as well as aid implemented in the form of financial products under Section 16 of Chapter III, if the average annual State aid budget per Member State exceeds EUR 200 million, from 6 months after their entry into force. For aid under Section 16 of Chapter III of this Regulation, only contributions by a Member State to the Member State compartment of the EU guarantee, referred to in Article 9(1), point (b), of Regulation (EU) 2021/523 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*1), which are earmarked for a specific financial product shall be taken into account for assessing whether the average annual State aid budget of that Member State related to the financial product exceeds EUR 200 million. The Commission may decide that this Regulation shall continue to apply for a longer period to any of these aid schemes after having assessed the relevant evaluation plan notified by the Member State to the Commission, within 20 working days from the scheme’s entry into force. Where the Commission has already extended the application of this Regulation beyond the initial 6 months as regards such schemes, Member States may decide to extend those schemes until the end of the period of application of this Regulation, provided that the Member State concerned has submitted an evaluation report in line with the evaluation plan approved by the Commission;

“(a)

aid granted in the fishery and aquaculture sector, within the scope of Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*2) with the exception of:

(b)

aid granted in the primary agricultural production sector, with the exception of regional investment aid in outermost regions, regional operating aid schemes, aid for consultancy in favour of SMEs, risk finance aid, aid for research and development, innovation aid for SMEs, environmental aid, training aid, aid for disadvantaged workers and workers with disabilities, aid to community-led local development (CLLD) projects, aid to European Territorial Cooperation projects, aid involved in financial products supported by the InvestEU Fund, aid to microenterprises in the form of public interventions concerning the supply of electricity, gas or heat as referred to in Article 19c and aid to SMEs in the form of temporary public interventions concerning the supply of electricity, gas or heat produced from natural gas or electricity to mitigate the impact of price increases following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine as referred to in Article 19d;

“(a)

In the case of a limited liability company (other than an SME that has been in existence for less than 3 years or, for the purposes of eligibility for risk finance aid, an SME that fulfils the condition in Article 21(3), point (b), and qualifies for risk finance investments following due diligence by the selected financial intermediary), where more than half of its subscribed share capital has disappeared as a result of accumulated losses. This is the case when deduction of accumulated losses from reserves (and all other elements generally considered as part of the own funds of the company) leads to a negative cumulative amount that exceeds half of the subscribed share capital. For the purposes of this provision, ‘limited liability company’ refers in particular to the types of company mentioned in Annex I to Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (*5) and ‘share capital’ includes, where relevant, any share premium.

(b)

In the case of a company where at least some of its members have unlimited liability for the debt of the company (other than an SME that has been in existence for less than 3 years or, for the purposes of eligibility for risk finance aid, an SME that fulfils the condition in Article 21(3), point (b), and qualifies for risk finance investments following due diligence by the selected financial intermediary), where more than half of its capital as shown in the company accounts has disappeared as a result of accumulated losses. For the purposes of this provision, ‘a company where at least some of its members have unlimited liability for the debt of the company’ refers in particular to the types of company mentioned in Annex II to Directive 2013/34/EU.

“(20)

‘adjusted aid amount’ means the maximum permissible aid amount for a large investment project, calculated in accordance with the following formula:

adjusted aid amount = R × (A + 0.50 × B + 0 × C)

where: R is the maximum aid intensity applicable in the area concerned, excluding the increased aid intensity for SMEs; A is the part of eligible costs equal to EUR 55 million; B is the part of eligible costs between EUR 55 million and EUR 110 million, and C is the part of eligible costs above EUR 110 million;”;

“(27)

‘assisted areas’ means areas designated in a regional aid map that has been approved in application of Article 107(3), points (a) and (c) of the Treaty and is in force at the time of the award of the aid;”;

“(32)

‘net increase in the number of employees’ means a net increase in the number of employees in the establishment concerned compared to the average over a given period in time, after deducting from the number of jobs created any job losses during that period. The number of persons employed full-time, part-time and seasonal has to be considered with their annual labour unit fractions;”;

“(34)

‘financial intermediary’ means any financial institution regardless of its form and ownership, including funds of funds, private investment funds, public investment funds, banks, micro-finance institutions and guarantee societies;”;

“(39a)

‘arm's length’ means that the conditions of the transaction between the contracting parties do not differ from those which would be stipulated between independent undertakings and contain no element of collusion. Any transaction that results from an open, transparent and non-discriminatory procedure is considered as meeting the arm's length principle;

(39b)

‘written’ means any form of written document, including electronic documents, provided that such electronic documents are recognised as equivalent under the applicable administrative procedures and legislation in the Member State concerned;”;

“(42)

‘regional operating aid’ means aid to reduce an undertaking's current expenditure, including categories such as personnel costs, materials, contracted services, communications, energy, maintenance, rent, administration, but excluding depreciation charges and the costs of financing related to an investment that benefited from investment aid;

(43)

‘steel sector’ means the production of one or more of the following:

“(43a)

‘lignite’ means low-rank C or ortho-lignite and low-rank B or meta-lignite as defined by the international codification system for coal established by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe;”;

“(45)

‘transport sector’ means the transport of passengers by aircraft, maritime transport, road or rail and by inland waterway or freight transport services for hire or reward; more specifically, the ‘transport sector’ means the following activities in terms of the statistical classification of economic activities (NACE Rev. 2), established by Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*6):

“(47a)

‘completion of the investment’ means the moment when the investment is considered by the national authorities as completed or, in the absence thereof, 3 years after the start of works;”;

“(49)

‘initial investment’ means one of the following:

(50)

‘same or a similar activity’ means an activity in the same class (four-digit numerical code) of the NACE Rev. 2 statistical classification of economic activities (NACE Rev. 2);

(51)

‘initial investment that creates a new economic activity’ means:

“(72)

‘independent private investor’ means an investor who is private and independent, as defined in this point. ‘Private’ investors mean investors who, irrespective of their ownership structure, pursue a purely commercial interest, use their own resources and bear the full risk in respect of their investment, and include, in particular: credit institutions investing at own risk and from own resources, private endowments and foundations, family offices and business angels, corporate investors, insurance undertakings, pension funds, academic institutions, as well as natural persons who either conduct an economic activity or not. The European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund, an international financial institution in which a Member State is a shareholder, or a legal entity that carries out financial activities on a professional basis which has been given a mandate by a Member State or a Member State’s entity at central, regional or local level to carry out development or promotional activities (national promotional bank or another promotional institution), will not be considered private investors for the purposes of this definition. ‘Independent’ investor means an investor that is not a shareholder of the eligible undertaking in which it invests. In the context of follow-on investments, an investor remains ‘independent’ if it was considered as an independent investor in a previous investment round. Upon the creation of a new company, any private investors, including the founders, of such new company, are considered to be independent from that company;

(73)

‘natural person’ for the purpose of Articles 21a and 23 means a person other than a legal entity and who is not an undertaking for the purposes of Article 107(1) of the Treaty;”;

“(79)

‘entrusted entity’ means the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund, an international financial institution in which a Member State is a shareholder, or a legal entity that carries out financial activities on a professional basis which has been given mandate by a Member State or a Member State’s entity at central, regional or local level to carry out development or promotional activities (a promotional bank or another promotional institution). The entrusted entity can be selected or directly appointed in accordance with the provisions of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (*7) or in accordance with Article 38(4), point (b)(iii), of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*8) or Article 59(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*9), whichever is applicable;

“(80)

‘innovative enterprise’ means an enterprise that meets one of the following conditions:

“(81)

‘alternative trading platform’ means a multilateral trading facility as defined in Article 4(1), point (22) of Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (*15) where at least 50 % of the financial instruments admitted to trading are issued by SMEs;

“(85)

‘industrial research’ means the planned research or critical investigation aimed at the acquisition of new knowledge and skills for developing new products, processes or services or aimed at bringing about a significant improvement in existing products, processes or services, including digital products, processes or services, in any area, technology, industry or sector (including, but not limited to, digital industries and technologies, such as super-computing, quantum technologies, block chain technologies, artificial intelligence, cyber security, big data and cloud technologies).

Industrial research comprises the creation of components parts of complex systems, and may include the construction of prototypes in a laboratory environment or in an environment with simulated interfaces to existing systems as well as of pilot lines, when necessary for the industrial research and notably for generic technology validation;

(86)

‘experimental development’ means acquiring, combining, shaping and using existing scientific, technological, business and other relevant knowledge and skills with the aim of developing new or improved products, processes or services, including digital products, processes or services, in any area, technology, industry or sector (including, but not limited to, digital industries and technologies, such as for example super-computing, quantum technologies, block chain technologies, artificial intelligence, cyber security, big data and cloud or edge technologies). This may also encompass, for example, activities aiming at the conceptual definition, planning and documentation of new products, processes or services.

Experimental development may comprise prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real life operating conditions where the primary objective is to make further technical improvements on products, processes or services that are not substantially set. This may include the development of a commercially usable prototype or pilot which is necessarily the final commercial product and which is too expensive to produce for it to be used only for demonstration and validation purposes.

Experimental development does not include routine or periodic changes made to existing products, production lines, manufacturing processes, services and other operations in progress, even if those changes may represent improvements;”;

“(90a)

‘Non-defence applications’ for the purposes of Article 25e refers to applications in products other than defence-related products listed in the Annex to Directive 2009/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (*16).

“(92)

‘innovation clusters’ means structures or organised groups of independent parties (such as innovative start-ups, small, medium and large enterprises, as well as research and knowledge dissemination organisations, research infrastructures, testing and experimentation infrastructures, Digital Innovation Hubs, non-for-profit organisations and other related economic actors) designed to stimulate innovative activity and new ways of collaboration, such as by digital means, by sharing and/or promoting the sharing of facilities and exchange of knowledge, and expertise and by contributing effectively to knowledge transfer, networking, information dissemination and collaboration among the undertakings and other organisations in the cluster. Digital Innovation Hubs, including European Digital Innovation Hubs funded under the centrally managed Digital Europe Programme established by Regulation (EU) 2021/694 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*17), are entities whose aim is to stimulate the broad uptake of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, cloud, edge and high-performance computing and cybersecurity, by industry (in particular by SMEs) and public sector organisations. Digital Innovation Hubs may qualify as an innovation cluster by themselves for the purposes of this Regulation.

“(94)

‘innovation advisory services’ means consultancy, assistance or training in the fields of knowledge transfer, acquisition, protection or exploitation of intangible assets or the use of standards and regulations embedding them, as well as consultancy, assistance or training on the introduction or use of innovative technologies and solutions (including digital technologies and solutions);

(95)

‘innovation support services’ means the provision of office space, data banks, cloud and data storage services, libraries, market research, laboratories, quality labelling, testing, experimentation and certification or other related services, including those services provided by research and knowledge dissemination organisations, research infrastructures, testing and experimentation infrastructures or innovation clusters, for the purpose of developing more effective or technologically advanced products, processes or services, including the implementation of innovative technologies and solutions (including digital technologies and solutions);

(96)

‘organisational innovation’ means the implementation of a new organisational method at the level of the undertaking (at group level in the given industry sector in the EEA), workplace organisation or external relations, including for instance by making use of novel or innovative digital technologies. Excluded from this definition are changes that are based on organisational methods already in use in the undertaking, changes in management strategy, mergers and acquisitions, ceasing to use a process, simple capital replacement or extension, changes resulting purely from changes in factor prices, customisation, localisation, regular, seasonal and other cyclical changes and trading of new or significantly improved products;

(97)

‘process innovation’ means the implementation of a new or significantly improved production or delivery method, including significant changes in techniques, equipment or software, at the level of the undertaking (at group level in the given industry sector in the EEA), including for instance by making use of novel or innovative digital technologies or solutions. Excluded from this definition are minor changes or improvements, increases in production or service capabilities through the addition of manufacturing or logistical systems which are very similar to those already in use, ceasing to use a process, simple capital replacement or extension, changes resulting purely from changes in factor prices, customisation, localisation, regular, seasonal and other cyclical changes and trading of new or significantly improved products;”;

“(98a)

‘testing and experimentation infrastructure’ means facilities, equipment, capabilities and resources, such as test beds, pilot lines, demonstrators, testing facilities or living labs, and related support services that are used predominantly by undertakings, especially SMEs, which seek support for testing and experimentation, in order to develop new or improved products, processes and services, and to test and upscale technologies, to advance through industrial research and experimental development. Access to publicly funded testing and experimentation infrastructures is open to several users and must be granted on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis and on market terms. Testing and experimentation infrastructures are sometimes also known as technology infrastructures (*18);

“(101)

‘environmental protection’ means any action or activity designed to reduce or prevent pollution, negative environmental impacts or other damage to physical surroundings (including to air, water and soil), ecosystems or natural resources by human activities, including to mitigate climate change, to reduce the risk of such damage, to protect and restore biodiversity or to lead to more efficient use of natural resources, including energy-saving measures and the use of renewable sources of energy and other techniques to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, as well as to shift to circular economy models to reduce the use of primary materials and increase efficiencies. It also covers actions that reinforce adaptive capacity and minimise vulnerability to climate impacts;

(102)

‘Union standard’ means:

“(102a)

‘recharging infrastructure’ means a fixed or mobile infrastructure supplying vehicles or mobile terminal equipment or mobile groundhandling equipment with electricity;

(102b)

‘refuelling infrastructure’ means a fixed or mobile infrastructure supplying vehicles or mobile terminal equipment or mobile groundhandling equipment with hydrogen;

(102c)

‘renewable hydrogen’ means hydrogen produced from renewable energy in accordance with the methodologies set out for renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological origin in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*20);

“(102d)

‘renewable electricity’ means electricity generated from renewable sources, as defined in Article 2, point (1), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

(102e)

‘smart recharging’ means a recharging operation in which the intensity of electricity delivered to the battery is adjusted in real-time, based on information received through electronic communication;

(102f)

‘clean vehicle’ means:

(102g)

‘zero-emission vehicle’ means:

(102h)

‘vehicle’ means any of the following:

(102i)

‘mobile groundhandling equipment’ means mobile equipment used in service activities incidental to air or maritime transport;

(102j)

‘mobile terminal equipment’ means mobile equipment used for the loading, unloading and transhipment of goods and intermodal loading units, and for moving cargo within a terminal area;

“(103)

‘energy efficiency’ means energy efficiency as defined in Article 2, point (4), of Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (*25);

“(103a)

‘primary energy’ means energy from renewable and non-renewable sources which has not undergone any conversion or transformation process;”;

“(103d)

‘smart-readiness’ means the capability of buildings or building units to adapt their operation to the needs of the occupant, including optimising energy efficiency and overall performance, and to adapt their operation in response to signals from the grid;”;

“(103e)

‘small mid-cap’ means an undertaking that is not an SME and whose number of employees does not exceed 499, calculated in accordance with Articles 3 to 6 of Annex I, the annual turnover of which does not exceed EUR 100 million or the annual balance sheet of which does not exceed EUR 86 million; several entities shall be considered as one undertaking if any of the conditions listed in Article 3(3) of Annex I is fulfilled. For the purpose of the application of Article 56e(10) and Article 56f, small mid-cap means an undertaking that is not an SME and employs up to 499 employees;”;

“(103f)

‘energy savings’ means energy savings as defined in Article 2, point (5), of Directive 2012/27/EU;”;

“(105)

‘energy efficiency fund’ or ‘EEF’ means a special investment vehicle set up for the purpose of investing in energy efficiency projects aimed at improving the energy efficiency of buildings. EEFs are managed by an energy efficiency fund manager;”;

“(108)

‘cogeneration’ or ‘combined heat and power’ or ‘CHP’ means cogeneration as defined in Article 2, point (30), of Directive 2012/27/EU;”;

“(108a)

‘cogeneration based on renewable energy sources’ means cogeneration using 100 % energy from renewable sources as an input for the production of heat and power;

(108b)

‘heat pump’ means a machine, a device or installation that transfers heat from natural surroundings such as air, water or ground to buildings or industrial applications by reversing the natural flow of heat such that it flows from a lower to a higher temperature. For reversible heat pumps, it may also move heat from the building to the natural surroundings;”;

“(109)

‘energy from renewable sources’ or ‘renewable energy’ means energy produced by plants using only renewable energy sources as defined in Article 2, point (1), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, as well as the share in terms of calorific value of energy produced from renewable energy sources in hybrid plants which also use conventional energy sources and includes renewable electricity used for filling storage systems connected behind-the-meter (jointly installed or as an add-on to the renewable installation), but excludes electricity produced as a result of storage systems;”;

“(109a)

‘renewable energy community’ means renewable energy community as defined in Article 2, point (16) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;”;

“(114)

‘innovative technology’ means a new and recently qualified technology compared to the state of the art in the industry, which carries a risk of technological or industrial failure and is not an optimisation or scaling up of an existing technology;”;

“(114a)

‘demonstration project’ means demonstration project as defined in Article 2, point (24), of Regulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*26);

(114b)

‘contract for difference’ means an aid instrument which entitles the beneficiary to a payment equal to the difference between a fixed ‘strike’ price(s) and a reference price – such as a market price, per unit of output;

“(115)

‘balancing’ for electricity means balancing as defined in Article 2, point (10), of Regulation (EU) 2019/943;

(116)

‘standard balancing responsibilities’ means non-discriminatory balancing responsibilities across technologies which do not exempt from balance responsibility any generator as set out in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943;”;

“(116a)

‘balance responsible party (BRP)’ means balance responsible party as defined in Article 2, point (14), of Regulation (EU) 2019/943;”;

“(117)

‘biomass’ means the biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues from biological origin, as defined in Article 2, point (24), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;”;

“(117a)

‘biofuels’ means biofuels as defined in Article 2, point (33), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

(117b)

‘biogas’ means biogas as defined in Article 2, point (28), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

(117c)

‘bioliquids’ means bioliquids as defined in Article 2, point (32), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

(117d)

‘biomass fuels’ means biomass fuels as defined in Article 2, point (27), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;”;

“(118)

‘funding gap’ means the net extra cost determined by the difference between the economic revenues and costs (including the investment and operation) of the aided project and those of the alternative project which the aid beneficiary would credibly carry out in the absence of aid. To determine the funding gap, the Member State must quantify, for the factual scenario and a credible counterfactual scenario, all main costs and revenues, the estimated weighted average cost of capital (‘WACC’) of the beneficiaries to discount future cash flows, as well as the net present value (‘NPV’) for the factual and counterfactual scenarios, over the lifetime of the project. The typical net extra cost can be estimated as the difference between the NPV for the factual scenario and for the counterfactual scenario over the lifetime of the reference project.

(119)

‘environmental tax or parafiscal levy’ means a tax or a levy applied on a specific tax base, products or services that have a clear negative effect on the environment or which seeks to charge certain activities, goods or services so that the environmental costs may be included in their price or so that producers and consumers are oriented towards activities which better respect the environment;”;

“(121a)

‘remediation’ means environmental management actions, such as the removal or detoxification of contaminates or excess nutrients from soil and water, that aim to remove sources of degradation;

(121b)

‘rehabilitation’ means environmental management actions that aim to reinstate a level of ecosystem functioning on degraded sites, where the goal is renewed and ongoing provision of ecosystem services rather than the biodiversity and integrity of a designated natural or semi-natural reference ecosystem;

(121c)

‘ecosystem’ means ecosystem as defined in Article 2, point (13), of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*27);

(121d)

‘biodiversity’ means biodiversity as defined in Article 2, point (15), of Regulation (EU) 2020/852;

“(123a)

‘pollutant’ means a pollutant as defined in Article 2, point (10), of Regulation (EU) 2020/852;

(123b)

‘pollution’ means pollution as defined in Article 3, point (2), of Directive 2010/75/EU;

(123c)

‘nature-based solution’ means an action to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use and manage natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems, which addresses social, economic and environmental challenges effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human well-being, ecosystem services, resilience and biodiversity benefits;

(123d)

‘restoration’ means the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem as a means of conserving biodiversity and increasing ecosystem resilience, notably to climate change. The restoration of ecosystems includes measures taken for the improvement of the condition of an ecosystem and the recreation or re-establishment of an ecosystem where that condition was lost and the improvement of ecosystem resilience and adaptation to climate change;”;

“(124)

‘energy efficient district heating and cooling’ means efficient district heating and cooling as defined in Article 2, point (41), of Directive 2012/27/EU;”;

“(124a)

‘district heating’ and ‘district cooling’ means district heating or district cooling as defined in Article 2, point (19), of Directive 2010/31/EU;

(124b)

‘district heating and cooling systems’, means heating and/or cooling generation facilities, thermal storage and distribution network, comprising both primary – transmission – and secondary network of pipelines, to supply heating or cooling to consumers. Reference to district heating is to be interpreted as district heating and/or cooling systems, depending on whether the networks supply heat or cooling jointly or separately;”;

“(126)

‘re-use’ means re-use as defined in Article 3, point (13), of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (*28);

(127)

‘preparing for re-use’ means preparing for re-use as defined in Article 3, point (16), of Directive 2008/98/EC;

(128)

‘recycling’ means recycling as defined in Article 3, point (17), of Directive 2008/98/EC;

“(128a)

‘resource efficiency’ means reducing the quantity of inputs needed to produce a unit of output or substituting primary inputs with secondary inputs;

(128b)

‘waste’ means waste as defined in Article 3, point (1), of Directive 2008/98/EC;

(128c)

‘waste heat’ means waste heat as defined in Article 2, point (9), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

(128d)

‘treatment’ means treatment as defined in Article 3, point (14), of Directive 2008/98/EC as well as treatment of other products, materials, or substances;

(128e)

‘recovery’ means recovery as defined in Article 3, point (15), of Directive 2008/98/EC as well as recovery of other products, materials or substances;

(128f)

‘disposal’ means disposal as defined in Article 3, point (19), of Directive 2008/98/EC;

(128g)

‘other products, materials or substances’ means materials, products and substances other than waste, including by-products referred to in Article 5 of Directive 2008/98/EC, agricultural and forestry residues, waste water, rain water and runoff water, minerals, nutrients, residual gases from production processes, and redundant products, parts and materials;

(128h)

‘redundant products, parts and materials’ means products, parts or materials that are no longer needed by or useful for its holder but are suitable for re-use;

(128i)

‘separate collection’ means separate collection as defined in Article 3, point (11), of Directive 2008/98/EC;”;

“(130)

‘energy infrastructure’ means any physical equipment or facility which is located within the Union or linking the Union to one or more third countries and falling under the following categories:

Assets listed under points (a) to (g) which are built for one or a small group of ex ante identified users and tailored to their needs (‘dedicated infrastructure’) shall not qualify as energy infrastructure.

“(130a)

‘distribution system operator’ (DSO) means a distribution system operator as defined in Article 2, point (29), of Directive (EU) 2019/944;

(130b)

‘transmission system operator’ (TSO) means a transmission system operator as defined in Article 2, point (35), of Directive (EU) 2019/944;

(130c)

‘electricity storage’ means deferring the final use of electricity to a moment later than when it was generated, or the conversion of electrical energy into a form of energy which can be stored, the storing of such energy, and the subsequent reconversion of such energy into electrical energy;

(130d)

‘thermal storage’ means deferring the final use of thermal energy to a moment later than when it was generated, or the conversion of electrical or thermal energy into a form of energy which can be stored, the storing of such energy, and, where appropriate, the subsequent conversion or reconversion of such energy into thermal energy for final use (i.e., heating or cooling);”;

“(131)

‘internal energy market legislation’ means Directive (EU) 2019/944, Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (*32), Regulation (EU) 2019/943 and Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*33);

“(131a)

‘carbon capture and storage’ or ‘CCS’ means a set of technologies that make it possible to capture the CO2 emitted from industrial plants, including process-inherent emissions, or to capture it directly from ambient air, to transport it to a storage site and inject it in suitable underground geological formations for the purpose of permanent storage;

(131b)

‘carbon capture and use’ or ‘CCU’ means a set of technologies that make it possible to capture the CO2 emitted from industrial plants, including process-inherent emissions, or to capture it directly from ambient air, and to transport it to a CO2-consumption or utilisation site for full usage of that CO2;”;

“(137)

‘broadband infrastructure’ means a broadband network without any active component and comprises the physical infrastructure, including ducts, poles, masts, towers, dark fibre, cabinets and cables (including dark fibre and copper cables);”;

“(137a)

‘backhaul network’ means the part of a broadband network that connects the access network to the backbone network and which does not provide direct access to end-users. It is the part of the network where the traffic of end users is aggregated;

(137b)

‘backbone network’ means the core network that interconnects backhaul networks from different areas or regions;

(137c)

‘access network’ means the segment of a broadband network that connects the backhaul network with the end users’ premises or devices;”;

“(139)

‘wholesale access’ means access which enables an operator to utilise the facilities of another operator. The wholesale access shall include, on the basis of the current technological developments, at least the following access products: (i) for FTTx networks: access to the broadband infrastructure, unbundling and bitstream access; (ii) for cable networks: access to the broadband infrastructure and access to active services; (iii) for fixed wireless networks: access to the broadband infrastructure and access to active services; (iv) for mobile networks: access to the broadband infrastructure and access to active services (at least roaming); (v) for satellite platforms: access to active services; (vi) for backhaul networks: access to the broadband infrastructure and access to active services.”;

“(139a)

‘premises passed’ means end-user premises to which, upon request from end-users and within 4 weeks from the date of request, a provider can provide broadband services (regardless of whether these premises are already connected or not connected to the network). The price charged for the provision of broadband services at the end users’ premises in this case must not exceed normal connection fees, meaning it must not include any additional or exceptional cost as compared to the standard commercial practice and, in any case, must not exceed the usual price in the Member State concerned. That price must be determined by the competent national authority;”;

“(139d)

‘peak-time’ means the time of the day with a typical duration of one hour where the network load is usually at its maximum;

(139e)

‘peak-time conditions’ means the conditions under which the network is expected to operate at ‘peak-time’;

(139f)

‘relevant time horizon’ means a time horizon used for verifying planned private investments and corresponds to the time frame that the Member State estimates for deploying the planned State funded network, starting from the moment of publication of the public consultation on the planned State intervention until the entry into operation of the network (i.e. start of the provision of wholesale and/or retail services on the State funded network). The relevant time horizon cannot be shorter than 2 years;”;

“(157)

‘port infrastructure’ means infrastructure and facilities for the provision of transport related port services, for example berths used for the mooring of ships, quay walls, jetties and floating pontoon ramps in tidal areas, internal basins, backfills and land reclamation, infrastructure for the collection of ship-generated waste and cargo residues and recharging and refuelling infrastructure in ports supplying vehicles, mobile terminal equipment and mobile groundhandling equipment with electricity, hydrogen, ammonia and methanol;”;

“(a)

for regional investment aid: for an investment with eligible costs of EUR 110 million or more, the aid amounts per undertaking per investment projects as set out below:

(b)

for regional urban development aid, EUR 22 million as laid down in Article 16(3);

(c)

for investment aid to SMEs: EUR 8.25 million per undertaking per investment project;

(d)

for aid for consultancy in favour of SMEs: EUR 2.2 million per undertaking, per project;

(e)

for aid to SMEs for participation in fairs: EUR 2.2 million per undertaking, per year;”;

“(ea)

for aid to microenterprises in the form of public interventions concerning the supply of electricity, gas or heat referred to in Article 19c: EUR 200 000 per beneficiary per calendar year. For microenterprises active in the primary production of agricultural products, this limit shall be EUR 25 000 per beneficiary per calendar year, and for microenterprises active in the fishery and aquaculture sectors, EUR 30 000 per beneficiary per calendar year;

(eb)

for aid to SMEs in the form of temporary public interventions concerning the supply of electricity, gas or heat produced from natural gas or electricity to mitigate the impact of price increases following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine referred to in Article 19d: EUR 2 million per beneficiary per calendar year. For SMEs active in the primary production of agricultural products, this limit shall be EUR 250 000 per beneficiary per calendar year, and for SMEs active in the fishery and aquaculture sectors, EUR 300 000 per beneficiary per calendar year. Aid granted to undertakings active in the processing and marketing of agricultural products shall be conditional on not being partly or entirely passed on to primary producers;”;

“(f)

for aid for undertakings participating in European Territorial Cooperation projects: for aid under Article 20, EUR 2.2 million per undertaking, per project; for aid under Article 20a, the amounts laid down in Article 20a(2) per undertaking, per project;

(g)

for risk finance aid: EUR 16.5 million per eligible undertaking as laid down in Article 21(8) and Article 21a(2);

(h)

for aid for start-ups: the amounts laid down per undertaking in Article 22(3), (4), (5) and (7);

(i)

for aid for research and development:

(j)

for investment aid for research infrastructures: EUR 35 million per infrastructure;

(ja)

for investment aid for testing and experimentation infrastructures: EUR 25 million per infrastructure;

(k)

for aid for innovation clusters: EUR 10 million per cluster;

(l)

Innovation aid for SMEs: EUR 10 million per undertaking, per project;

(m)

for aid for process and organisational innovation: EUR 12.5 million per undertaking, per project;

(n)

for training aid: EUR 3 million per training project;

(o)

for aid for the recruitment of disadvantaged workers: EUR 5.5 million per undertaking, per year;

(p)

for aid for the employment of workers with disabilities in the form of wage subsidies: EUR 11 million per undertaking, per year;

(q)

for aid for compensating the additional costs of employing workers with disabilities: EUR 11 million per undertaking, per year;

(r)

for aid for compensating the costs of assistance provided to disadvantaged workers: EUR 5.5 million per undertaking, per year;

(s)

for investment aid for environmental protection, unless otherwise specified: EUR 30 million per undertaking per investment project;

(sa)

for aid for dedicated infrastructure and storage referred to in Article 36(4): EUR 25 million per project;”;

“(sb)

for investment aid for recharging or refuelling infrastructure referred to in Article 36a(1) and (2): EUR 30 million per undertaking per project and, in the case of schemes, an average annual budget of EUR 300 million;

(sc)

for investment aid for the combined improvements of the energy and environmental performance of buildings referred to in Articles 38a(7) and 39(2a): EUR 30 million per undertaking per project;

(sd)

for aid for the facilitation of energy performance contracting referred to in Article 38b: EUR 30 million of total nominal outstanding financing per beneficiary;

(se)

for investment aid for energy efficiency projects in buildings in the form of financial instruments: the amounts set out in Article 39(5);

(sf)

for aid in form of reduction of environmental taxes or levies referred to in Article 44a: EUR 50 million per scheme per year;”;

“(v)

for operating aid for the promotion of electricity from renewable sources, as referred to in Article 42, and operating aid for the promotion of energy from renewable sources and renewable hydrogen in small projects and renewable energy communities, as referred to in Article 43: EUR 30 million per undertaking per project; the sum of the budgets of all the schemes falling under Article 42 and the sum of the budgets of all the schemes falling under Article 43 should respectively not exceed EUR 300 million per year;

(w)

for aid for district heating and/or cooling systems, as referred to in Article 46: EUR 50 million per undertaking per project;

(x)

for aid for energy infrastructure, as referred to in Article 48: EUR 70 million per undertaking per project;

(y)

for aid for the deployment of fixed broadband networks awarded in the form of a grant: EUR 100 million total costs per project; for aid for fixed broadband networks awarded in the form of a financial instrument the nominal amount of total financing provided to any final beneficiary per project must not exceed EUR 150 million;”;

“(yd)

for aid for the deployment of backhaul networks awarded in the form of a grant: EUR 100 million total costs per project; for aid for the deployment of backhaul networks awarded in the form of a financial instrument the nominal amount of total financing provided to any final beneficiary per project must not exceed EUR 150 million;”;

“(z)

for investment aid for culture and heritage conservation: EUR 165 million per project; operating aid for culture and heritage conservation: EUR 82.5 million per undertaking per year;

(aa)

for aid schemes for audiovisual works: EUR 55 million per scheme per year;

(bb)

for investment aid for sport and multifunctional recreational infrastructures: EUR 33 million or the total costs exceeding EUR 110 million per project; operating aid for sport infrastructure: EUR 2.2 million per infrastructure per year;

(cc)

for investment aid for local infrastructures: EUR 11 million or the total costs exceeding EUR 22 million for the same infrastructure;”;

“(ee)

for aid for maritime ports: eligible costs of EUR 143 million per project (or EUR 165 million per project in a maritime port included in the work plan of a Core Network Corridor as referred to in Article 47 of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*34)); as regards dredging a project is defined as all dredging carried out within 1 calendar year;

(ff)

for aid for inland ports: eligible costs of EUR 44 million per project (or EUR 55 million per project in an inland port included in the work plan of a Core Network Corridor as referred to in Article 47 of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013); as regards dredging a project is defined as all dredging carried out within 1 calendar year;

“(hh)

for aid to SMEs for costs incurred by participating in community-led local development (‘CLLD’) projects: for aid under Article 19a, EUR 2 million per undertaking, per project; for aid under Article 19b, the amounts laid down in Article 19b(2) per project.”;

“(f)

aid comprised in risk finance measures if the conditions laid down in Articles 21 and 21a are fulfilled;”;

“(ga)

aid for SMEs in the form of reduced access fees or free access to innovation advisory services and innovation support services, as defined in Article 2, points (94) and (95) respectively, offered for example by research and knowledge dissemination organisations, research infrastructures, testing and experimentation infrastructures or innovation clusters based on an aid scheme provided that the following conditions are met:

“(l)

aid involved in financial products supported by the InvestEU Fund, if the conditions laid down in Chapter III, Section 16, are fulfilled;”;

“(m)

aid to microenterprises in the form of public interventions concerning the supply of electricity, gas or heat, if the conditions set out in Articles 19c are fulfilled;

(n)

aid to SMEs in the form of temporary public interventions concerning the supply of electricity, gas or heat produced from natural gas or electricity to mitigate the impact of price increases following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, if the conditions set out in Article 19d are fulfilled.”;

“(b)

aid for access to finance for SMEs, if the relevant conditions laid down in Articles 21, 21a and 22 are fulfilled;”;

“(l)

aid for SMEs participating in or benefitting from community-led local development (‘CLLD’) projects, if the relevant conditions in Article 19a or 19b are fulfilled;”;

“(m)

aid for the remediation of environmental damage and the rehabilitation of natural habitats and ecosystems where the remediation or rehabilitation costs exceed the increase in value of the land or property and the conditions laid down in Article 45 are fulfilled;

(n)

aid for the protection of biodiversity and the implementation of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation where the conditions laid down in Article 45 are fulfilled;

(o)

aid for the promotion of energy from renewable energy sources under Article 41, 42 and 43 when the aid is granted automatically in accordance with objective and non-discriminatory criteria and without further exercise of discretion by the Member State and the measure has been adopted and is in force before work on the aided project or activity has started;

(p)

aid to microenterprises in the form of public interventions concerning the supply of electricity, gas or heat, subject to the conditions set out in Article 19c;

(q)

aid to SMEs in the form of temporary public interventions concerning the supply of electricity, gas or heat produced from natural gas or electricity to mitigate the impact of price increases following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, subject to the conditions set out in Article 19d.”;

(i)

in the first subparagraph, point (d) is replaced by the following:

(ii)

the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

“For large enterprises, costs of intangible assets shall be eligible only up to 50 % of the total eligible investment costs for the initial investment. For SMEs, 100 % of the costs of intangible assets shall be eligible.”;

“(a)

the investment project shall lead to a net increase in the number of employees in the establishment concerned compared to the average over the previous 12 months, after deducting from the number of jobs created any job losses that occurred during that period, expressed in annual labour units;

(b)

each post shall be filled within 3 years of completion of the investment;”;

“(b)

the additional transport costs are calculated on the basis of the journey of the goods inside the national border of the Member State concerned using the means of transport which results in the lowest costs for the beneficiary. The Member State may impose environmental standards to be fulfilled by the mode of transport chosen, and if such standards are imposed on the beneficiary it may base the calculation of the additional transport costs on the lowest cost for fulfilling those environmental standards.”;

(i)

point (b) is replaced by the following:

(ii)

point (d) is replaced by the following:

“(e)

additional overheads and other operating expenses, including costs of materials, supplies and similar products, incurred directly as a result of the project; without prejudice to Article 7(1), third sentence, such research and development project costs may alternatively be calculated on the basis of a simplified cost approach in the form of a flat-rate of up to 20 %, applied to total eligible research and development project costs referred to in points (a) to (d). In this case, the research and development project costs used for the calculation of the indirect costs shall be established on the basis of normal accounting practices and shall comprise only eligible research and development project costs referred to in points (a) to (d).”;

“(c)

costs for innovation advisory and support services, including those services provided by research and knowledge dissemination organisations, research infrastructures, testing and experimentation infrastructures or innovation clusters.”;

(i)

points (a) and (b) are replaced by the following:

(ii)

the following point (c) is added: