16.6.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 146/2

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Summary information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1/2004 of 23 December 2003 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production, processing and marketing of agricultural products

(2005/C 146/02)

Aid No: XA No 62/04

Member State: Italy

Region: Region of Marche

Title of aid scheme: Award of grants to agricultural and livestock holdings damaged by the earthquake on 26 September 1997 with a view to bringing temporary stables converted into permanent fixtures into line with health and hygiene requirements.

Legal basis: Art. 2 Legge regionale n. 21 del 10 dicembre 2003‘Trasformazione in costruzioni a carattere permanente degli alloggi prefabbricati temporanei installati a seguito degli eventi sismici iniziati il 26 settembre 1997’. Delibera giunta regionale n 789 del 13/7/2004

Annual expenditure planned: The total expenditure planned for 2004 and 2005 amounts to EUR 1 000 000.

Maximum aid intensity: The aid scheme provides for capital grants to undertake the infrastructural investment needed to convert small-scale permanent constructions.

The grant is equivalent to 50 % of the expenditure incurred on the eligible investments, calculated using prices not exceeding those in the official Marche Region price-list for public works, and in any event within the following agreed expenditure limits:

EUR 135,00 per square metre in the case of health and hygiene improvements; The following further amount(s) will be added to the above:

EUR 6,00 per square metre for technical expenditure on health and hygiene improvements.

The relevant taxes and contributions (VAT, national insurance contributions, etc), if not recoverable, can be added to the amount of the aid sum as calculated.

As the stables in question are located in municipalities defined as less-favoured areas under Directive 75/268/EEC as supplemented and amended, the upper aid rate of 50 % will be applied. These same areas have been listed in Annexes 3 and/or 12 to Decree No 196/04 of the Official Responsible for Rural and Agricultural Development on the common annexes relating to tenders for implementing RDP measures.

Date of implementation: From 2004, but no earlier than 10 working days after the submission of this form, as required by Article 19(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004.

Duration of scheme: The aid may be granted up to 31 December 2005.

Objective of aid: The aid is intended for small and medium-sized farm enterprises and associations thereof which satisfy the profitability requirements established in the RSP for the Region of Marche, approved by the Commission by Decision C(2000) 2726 DEF of 26 September 2000 and is based on Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004.

In accordance with the abovementioned Article 4, the objectives are to improve and convert production and to protect and improve the environment and the health and welfare conditions of livestock.

One specific objective of the Regional Law mentioned in the legal basis is to preserve the region's heritage in stables and barns needed for agricultural production, so avoiding the significant environmental impact caused by the replacement of wooden structures with new ones in reinforced concrete.

Eligible expenditure: Eligible expenses, in accordance with Article 4(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004 are those incurred on upgrading stables to comply with the health and hygiene legislation in place, including the construction of the relevant manure-pits.

The eligibility of the expenditure begins to run from the date on which the aid is granted.

Sector(s) concerned: The scheme applies to small and medium-sized enterprises involved in the production, processing and marketing of agricultural products.

Name and address of the granting authority: Region of Marche — Centro operativo di Muccia e Fabriano

Other information: The aid will be granted exclusively to small and medium-sized enterprises in the agricultural sector whose financial viability can be demonstrated for products with normal outlets now or in the future, provided the investments do not result in an increase of more than 20 % in the production capacity of the small and medium-sized enterprises, to be calculated in livestock units in the case of livestock production and as area cultivated in the case of plant production.

The criteria and procedures governing the evaluations and measures for verifying compliance with the above requirements (provided for in Article 4(5), (6) and (8)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004) will be those laid down in the RSP for the Region of Marche, referred to in Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999, approved by the Commission by Decision C(2000) 2726 DEF of 26 September 2000 and published on the Internet at the following address: www.agri.marche.it

Aid No: XA 1/05

Member State: United Kingdom

Region: Lancashire (including the unitary authority areas of Blackpool and Blackburn) and the districts of Wigan, Bolton, Bury, Rochdale and Oldham.

Title of Aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Rural Business Facilitation Service (Lancashire and North Manchester)

Legal basis: Section 5 of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The total budget of the scheme will be GBP 3 490 068. This will be split over 4 financial years:

Maximum aid intensity: 100 % for initial consultancy provided by the Rural Business Facilitation Service.

50 % for in depth consultancy provided by external consultants.

Date of implementation: The scheme will open on 31 January 2005.

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: The scheme will remain open until 30 June 2007.

Objective of aid: Sectoral development — the scheme will aid the long term development of Lancashire's rural economy through the provision of advice and technical support to farmers and agricultural businesses aimed at improving business performance and efficiency.

The eligible costs will be consultancy services in line with Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004.

Sector(s) concerned: The scheme applies to all agricultural businesses, including production, processing and marketing. The scheme is open to all subsectors.

Name and address of the granting authority:

Lancashire County Council

Environment Directorate

Guild House

Cross Street

Preston

United Kingdom

PR1 8RD

Web-address: www.defra.gov.uk/farm/state-aid/setup/exist-exempt.htm. Click on ‘Rural Business Facilitation Service (Lancashire and North Manchester)’. Alternatively, you can go direct to http://defraweb/farm/state-aid/setup/schemes/rbfs.pdf.

Other information: The scheme will provide a first contact point for any rural business in Lancashire and North Manchester seeking initial advice to improve and develop their business. More detailed consultancy will then be made available to take ideas forward. Where subsidised consultancy is already available through other Government-funded advice schemes, applicants will be directed to those other schemes. Where advice is not available elsewhere, RBFS staff will provide consultancy or will refer applicants to external consultants. Where external consultants are involved, the aid intensity is reduced to 50 % from 100 % (see above).

The scheme will be made available to all rural businesses, not just agricultural businesses. Aid to non-agricultural businesses will be paid with regard to Commission Regulation (EC) No 69/2001 on de minimis aid.

Aid No: XA No 02/05

Member State: Italy

Region: Umbria

Title of aid scheme: Implementation of support measures for investment in the food industry

Legal basis:

Il regime di aiuti in argomento, avviato a far data dalla pubblicazione del bando pubblico (4 novembre 2004), è da considerarsi come riapertura dei termini di presentazione delle domande di aiuto a valere delle Misure 1.1.1. (a), 1.2.1 (g) e 1.2.2.(m) del PSR della Regione Umbria la cui copertura finanziaria è assicurata con risorse regionali, qualora non si rendessero disponibili risorse nazionali aggiuntive sulla dotazione del Piano di Sviluppo Rurale dell'Umbria.

Annual expenditure planned: EUR 50 million (estimated)

Maximum aid intensity: Variable depending upon the type of eligible investment:

40 % of the cost of real estate and plant by destination (investment in agricultural holdings and in the agricultural product processing and marketing sector),

20 % of the cost of purchasing machinery and equipment (investment in agricultural holdings),

up to 50 % of the cost of introducing business quality control systems to ISO 9000 standards, up to EUR 100 000 per holding,

up to 50 % of the cost of introducing environmental quality systems to ISO 14000 standards, up to EUR 100 000 per holding,

up to 50 % for agri-food enterprises and 80 % for agricultural enterprises of the cost of implementing hygiene and health own checks plans according to the HACCP model up to EUR 100 000 per holding,

up to 60 % for agri-food enterprises and 80 % for agricultural enterprises of the cost of introducing checking procedures on the retraceability of food products and introducing certification of the food chain,

up to 80 % of eligible costs for planning and implementing marketing projects for quality agricultural products,

up to 50 % of eligible costs for preparing quality specifications and technical studies on feasibility and design for the identification and/or standardisation of product properties and for the presentation of quality products.

Date of implementation:

Duration of scheme: Annual

Objective of aid: Strengthening integration between the various parties involved in the agri-food sector. Articles used: 4, 7, 13.

Eligible costs:

Aid for production (Article 4)

(a)

construction, restructuring and exceptional maintenance of farm buildings used by the agricultural holding, including additional external works such as creating yards, paddocks, fencing, etc (costs of building works that form part of housing structures are not eligible except in the case of independent adjacent sections);

(b)	planting and/or restructuring of specialised tree crops. Aid for planting new vineyards and olive plantations and for the restructuring of existing vineyards is excluded. Restructuring of olive plantations is permitted only if the number of trees remains unchanged;

(c)	reservoirs for agricultural, livestock, environmental, tourist and recreational use to make the agricultural holding multi-functional, as well as installations for their use and for water distribution;

(d)	planting and improvement of fields and mountain pastures, livestock enclosures, etc;

(e)	construction and exceptional maintenance of farm tracks and water pipelines for use by the holding;

(f)	organisation of agricultural water supplies, levelling and removal of stones, including drainage and surface water control works through creation of secondary drainage ditches, possibly using bioengineering techniques, up to EUR 25 000;

(g)

investments for processing and marketing quality or niche agricultural products (including investments for selling them direct), provided that the product to be processed or marketed makes up, in economic terms, at least 40 % of the farm's income calculated in ESU or that, as an absolute value, the products to be processed have a value equal to or greater than 20 ESU. In all cases, the installation should be consistent with the farm's production capabilities. These limitations do not apply to small installations for processing niche products or products produced organically in accordance with existing regulations or first processing products for feeding livestock. In every case, aid for construction of new farm installations in the wine sector is subject to ownership of a minimum area planted with vines of 5 hectares for DOCG production and 10 hectares for DOC or IGT production, while in the olive processing sector at least 5 000 olive trees must be owned;

(h)	first purchase of livestock and purchase of high-quality breeding animals (male and female), registered in herd books or their equivalent;

(i)	investments or funding for farming wild animals for food or repopulation purposes, limited to the species eligible under the Piano Faunistico Venatorio;

(j)

purchase of new machinery and equipment provided that the farm is not already so equipped, including computer equipment (hardware and software) and instruments to improve administrative and account management, up to 40 % of the maximum possible investment amount per farm, which may be increased to 70 % for cooperatives that provide services for their members. The purchase of replacement machinery is not covered, except when it is intended to improve the safety and quality of work in relation to the minimum standards provided for by current regulations and provided that the machine to be replaced is at least five years old. From 31 December 2001, the purchase of replacement machinery is covered within the framework of a programme that also provides for obligatory real estate investment to at least 50 % of the costs covered by the whole programme;

(k)

purchase of equipment for managing and treating agricultural and livestock-related waste, whether for re-use on the farm or for commercial purposes, within the limits of farm production or associated farms. The purchase of machinery and equipment for producing ‘fertilising green compost’ or ‘fertilising compost from separate collection’ is also permitted, although only for the production of quantities commensurate with the size of the farm;

(l)

general costs totalling no more than 12 % of the permitted total cost, relating to: — technicians' and consultants' fees for planning, work and checking supervision, feasibility studies and business plans, to a maximum of 8 %, etc; — creation of websites to market products and services (e-commerce); — advice and staff training to facilitate implementation of quality control in processing and adherence to voluntary standards (ISO 9000, Eco Label, etc); — acquisition of patents and licences; Costs of purchasing the following are not eligible for aid: — cultivation land; — animals for fattening, breeding poultry and hybrid breeding pigs if they are not included in the quality product specifications; — production rights; — vehicles used for transporting people and objects; — ordinary maintenance works.

Processing and marketing (Article 7):

(a)	construction, restructuring and modernising of buildings;

(b)

acquisition of real estate, excluding the purchase of land unless it is within the limits and conditions set by rule no 5 of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1685/2000, up to a maximum of 70 % of investment eligible for aid and provided that the real estate is to have restructuring work carried out for at least 30 % of its total final cost;

(c)	purchase of machinery and equipment including computer equipment;

(d)	costs of purchasing software and advice on installing the machinery and equipment mentioned in the preceding point;

(e)

general expenses totalling no more than 12 % of total eligible expenditure, relative to: — technicians' and consultants' fees for planning, work and checking supervision, feasibility studies and business plans, to a maximum of 8 %, etc; — creation of websites to market products and services (e-commerce); — advice and staff training to facilitate implementation of quality control in processing and adherence to voluntary standards (ISO 9000, Eco Label, etc); — acquisition of patents and licences; Ineligible costs: — investment for the phases following first processing if first processing of agricultural raw materials does not take place on the holding; — retail-level investments; — investment for marketing or processing products from third countries. In all cases, investments are ineligible if they increase production capabilities in sectors for which specific limitations exist in terms of Common Market Organisations as adequate market outlets are not guaranteed for these.

Aid to encourage the production and marketing of quality agricultural products (Article 13):

(a)	Costs linked to the issuing of voluntary first certification of the product as provided for by Regulations (EEC) Nos 2081/92, 2082/92, 2092/91 and 1804/1999;

(b)	Costs for introducing business quality control procedures according to ISO 9000 standards;

(c)	Costs for introducing environmental quality control procedures according to ISO 14000 or EMAS standards;

(d)	Costs for implementing hygiene and health own checks plans according to the HACCP method;

(e)	Costs for introducing checking procedures for the retraceability of food products and certification of the food chain;

(f)	Costs for planning and implementing marketing projects, including any necessary organisational and material resources;

(g)	Costs for planning quality specifications and technical studies of feasibility and design for the identification and/or standardisation of product properties and for the presentation of quality products.

Sectors concerned: The scheme applies to production, processing and/or marketing of agricultural products as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004. In all cases, investments are ineligible if they increase production capabilities in sectors for which specific limitations exist in terms of Common Market Organisations as adequate market outlets are not guaranteed for these.

Name and address of the granting authority: Regione Umbria — Direzione Attività Produttive

Centro Direzionale Fontivegge — 06100 Perugia

E-mail: fgarofalo@regione.umbria.it: Web address: www.regione.umbria.it

Aid No: XA 03/05

Member State: Spain

Region: Castile-Leon

Title of aid scheme: Aid to promote the cooperative movement in the Autonomous Community of Castile-Leon

Legal basis: Orden AYG.../2005, de ... febrero, de la Consejería de Agricultura y Ganadería, por la que se regulan y convocan ayudas destinadas a la promoción del movimiento cooperativo en la comunidad autónoma de Castilla y León.

This aid scheme falls within the scope of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1/2004 of 23 December 2003 and complies with Articles 10, 13 and 14 thereof concerning, respectively, aid for producer groups, aid to promote the production and marketing of quality products and technical assistance in agriculture.

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The planned aid amounts to EUR 1 200 000 for 2005.

Maximum aid intensity:

—	Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004. The total amount per beneficiary unit will be EUR 100 000,

—	Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004. The total amount per beneficiary unit will be EUR 100 000 over a three year period,

—	Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004. The aid per beneficiary unit may not exceed EUR 100 000 over three years or 50 % of the eligible costs, whichever is the greater

Date of application: The aid scheme is due to enter into force in March 2005

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until 31 December 2006

Aim of the aid:

General objective: To strengthen agricultural cooperatives in Castile-Leon

Secondary objectives:

—	To support the creation of new associations and consolidate other higher-level bodies created through mergers and integration;

—	To support existing organisations which substantially increase the value of their marketed production (by at least 30 %);

—	To encourage the production and marketing of quality agricultural products;

—	To provide technical assistance to associations to conduct audits, management and viability analysis, investments and market surveys, and organise competitions, exhibitions and fairs.

Articles used:

—	The aid scheme complies with Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004 concerning producer groups, Article 13 concerning aid to promote the production and marketing of agricultural products and Article 14 on technical assistance to agriculture.

—	Account was also taken of Articles 17 and 20, in Chapter 3 of the Regulation, concerning common and final provisions.

Eligible costs:

—

Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004. Creating new primary-level or higher-level associations resulting from mergers and integration and improving the social and economic aspects of agricultural associations with a minimum increase of 30 % in the value of marketed production. — Costs incurred by the new organisation in creating, merging or integrating associations, including: start-up costs, audits, legal costs, advice to decision-making and technical members, financing and marketing studies, notarial costs, registration costs and licence fees; — Management costs during the first five years of operation of newly created, merged or integrated associations: rental of premises, acquisition of office equipment including computer hardware and software, cost of administrative staff, overheads, legal and administrative costs; — In the case of expansions, the eligible costs will be restricted to the increase from year to year (at least 30 %) in the value of production marketed by the beneficiaries. Accordingly, when the association grows, only the costs incurred by the growth will be financed.

—

Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004. Encouraging the production and marketing of quality agricultural products. — Costs incurred from introducing quality control and product traceability systems. These costs can include studies to prepare applications for recognition of quality marks, the costs of introducing the quality system, outside consultancy services, certification and training the staff to apply the systems.

—	Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004. Technical support in the agricultural sector — The costs incurred by associations to conduct audits, management and viability analysis, investments and market surveys, and organise competitions, exhibitions and fairs.

Sector(s) concerned: Agriculture in general, and cooperative associations in particular

Note:Cooperatives which have been recently approved but which have not yet undertaken any actions or provided any services at the date of entry into force of this aid scheme may be considered newly created cooperatives.

Name and address of the granting authority: The aid will be granted by the Castile-Leon Government, and administered by the Directorate-General for agricultural industrialisation and modernisation of the Ministry for Agriculture and Livestock Farming.

C/ Rigoberto Cortejoso, 14 — 47014 Valladolid (Spain).

Website: The full text of the aid scheme will be published on the website of the Castile-Leon Government at http://www.jcyl.es/agrocomercializacion.

Other information: Management of the aid will be subject to the Order and must comply with Article 18 of the Regulation as regards cumulation.

Aid No: XA 04/05

Member State: Spain

Region: The entire territory

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Grants to holders of dairy farms to offset the cost of milk inspection

Legal base:

Real Decreto por el que se regula el control oficial del rendimiento lechero para la evaluación genética en las especies bovina, ovina y caprina

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 2 500 000

Maximum aid intensity: Up to 70 % of the cost of milk inspection

Date of application: 2005

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until 31 December 2006

Aim of the aid: Grants to holders of dairy farms to encourage action in breeding, preserving and promoting livestock breeds. The grants fall within the scope of the following Articles of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004 on State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production, processing and marketing of agricultural products: Article 15(b): aid at a rate of up to 70 % of the costs of tests performed by or on behalf of third parties, to determine the genetic quality or yield of livestock.

Sector(s) concerned: holders of dairy farms with cattle, sheep and goats of breeds entered in the herd books

Name and address of the granting authority: Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Directorate-General for Livestock Farming, Alfonso XII, 62, 28014 Madrid

Website: http://www.mapa.es-Sección Ganadería

Aid No: XA 05/05

Member State: France

Region: Département de la Manche

Title of aid scheme: Aid for sheds for co-operatives for the pooled use of agricultural equipment

Legal basis:

—	Articles L 1511 et suivants du Code général des collectivités territoriales permettant aux collectivités territoriales d'intervenir dans le cadre de la création ou de l'extension d'activités économiques en accordant des aides directes et indirectes aux entreprises

—	Articles L 3231-2 et L 3232-1 du Code général des collectivités territoriales.

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme: EUR 54 000 annual aid (maximum)

Maximum aid intensity: 30 % of investments, subject to an aid ceiling of EUR 13 500 per investment.

Date of implementation: On receiving the acknowledgement of receipt by the European Commission in 2005.

Duration of scheme: Until 31 December 2007 at the latest.

Objective of aid: To encourage group investment and lower production costs by facilitating the construction, purchase, modernisation, conversion and extension of sheds designed to house co-operatives' shared agricultural equipment.

Nature of operations eligible for aid: The following investments are eligible for aid under Article 4 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1/2004 of 23 December 2003: the construction, purchase, modernisation, conversion and extension of sheds.

Sector(s) concerned: All sectors of agricultural production

Name and address of the granting authority:

Monsieur le Président du Conseil général de la Manche

Direction des affaires économiques et du développement rural

Service du développement rural

Maison du département

Rond-point de la liberté

50008 Saint-Lô Cedex

Web-address: http: //www.cg50.fr/le guide des aides

Aid No: XA 06/05

Member State: Hungary

Region: Hungary

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Agricultural development loan programme

Three sub-programmes:

Legal basis:

—	az Agrár Fejlesztési Hitelprogram kidolgozásáról szóló 2318/2004. (XII. 11.) Korm. határozat;

—	a Magyar Köztársaság 2005. évi költségvetéséről szóló 2004. évi CXXXV. törvény 36. § és 39.§

—	a program lebonyolításáról szóló kormányrendelet, mely e tájékoztató benyújtását követő 10. munkanapon kerül kihirdetésre (megjelenik a Magyar Közlönyben)  (1)

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The total budget available for the loan programme is HUF 40 billion. In accordance with the National Budget Act, exchange rate guarantee is provided by the Government for this amount in order to offer loans at interest rates lower than the current market rates.

The amount of aid included in the loans will be calculated according to the formula below:

where: and

TT aid amount

Q loan amount

I reference rate

i' preferential interest rate

P maturity (including grace period)

F grace period

rP r to the power of P

rF r to the power of F

Guarantee by credit guarantee institutions with a 70 % State counter-guarantee may also be associated with the loan programme. The method of calculating the aid amount of the credit guarantees was submitted for inclusion in the list of existing agricultural State aids for the Commission of the European Union on 31 August 2004. (Notification No: 82-83)

Maximum aid intensity: For each subprogramme, maximum aid intensity must not exceed:

In the case of aid cumulation, Article 18(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004 applies.

The maximum aid amount may not exceed EUR 6 million, or in the case of young farmers, HUF 6 375 000 (EUR 25 000).

Date of implementation: Contracts may be awarded under the loan programme from the date of entry into force of the Government Decree on the loan programme until 31 December 2006

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Maximum 15 years (December 2021)

Objective of aid:

1.	support for small and medium-sized enterprises;

2.	aid for investments in modernisation and development.

During the implementation of the agricultural development loan programme, Hungarian Development Bank Inc. will apply the relevant Articles of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004. Sub-programmes A, B and C are based on Articles 4, 7 and 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004.

Eligible costs are determined according to the conditions laid down in the abovementioned articles of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004. Detailed information on the eligible costs can be found in the programme description of the bank also available at the Internet address specified below.

Sector(s) concerned: Agriculture

This programme applies to the production and first-stage processing of agricultural products and to services related to agricultural products.

Name and address of the granting authority: Magyar Fejlesztési Bank Részvénytársaság (Hungarian Development Bank Inc.) Nádor u. 31., H-1051 Budapest, Hungary

Website: http://www.fvm.hu/main.php?folderID=1569

Other information: Contact person: Szilvia Németh

mail to: NemethS@posta.fvm.hu

Aid number: XA 7/05

Member State: United Kingdom

Region: Dorset (including Bournemouth and Poole unitary authority areas)

Title of Aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Dorset Agricultural Advisory Service

Legal basis: Local Government Act 2000 (Part one)

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company:

1 March 2005 — 28 February 2006	GBP 69 624
1 March 2006 — 28 February 2007	GBP 69 224
1 March 2007 — 30 June 2007	GBP 69 224
Total	GBP 208 072

Maximum aid intensity: The aid intensity is 100 %.

Date of implementation: Farmers and land based owners will be able to obtain advice and on or after 10 February 2005.

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: The scheme will close on 22 June 2007. Aid will be paid until 30 June 2007.

Objective of aid: The objective of the aid is sectoral development for land based business sector. The aid is being implemented under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004. The eligible costs are consultancy services.

Sector(s) concerned: The scheme will apply to businesses involved in agricultural production and to the businesses processing and marketing their own agricultural produce.

Name and address of the granting authority:

Dorset County Council

County Hall

Colliton Park

Dorchester

United Kingdom

DT1 1XJ

The organisation operating the scheme is

Dorset Agricultural Advisory Service

Stinsford Business Centre

Kingston Maurward College

Dorchester

Dorset

United Kingdom

DT1 8PY

Web-address: www.defra.gov.uk/farm/state-aid/setup/exist-exempt.htm. Click on Dorset Agricultural Advisory Services. Alternatively, you can go direct to www.defra.gov.uk/farm/state-aid/setup/schemes/dorset.pdf.

Other information: The scheme will be made available to non-agricultural land based businesses as well as agricultural businesses. Aid to non-agricultural businesses will be paid with regard to Commission Regulation (EC) No 69/2001 on de minimis aid.

Under this scheme beneficiaries will not be able to choose their own service provider. The service provider will be the Royal Bath & West of England Society and was chosen on the basis of market principles in line with Article 14(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2004.

Signed and dated on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (UK competent authority):

Graham Collins

Agricultural State Aid Adviser

Defra

8E, 9 Millbank

c/o Nobel House

17 Smith Square

London

SW1P 3JR

United Kingdom

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(1)  a kormányrendelet szövege megtalálható a megadott Internet címen

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