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Document 32015R2282
Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/2282 of 27 November 2015 amending Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 as regards the notification forms and information sheets (Text with EEA relevance)
Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/2282 of 27 November 2015 amending Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 as regards the notification forms and information sheets (Text with EEA relevance)
Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/2282 of 27 November 2015 amending Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 as regards the notification forms and information sheets (Text with EEA relevance)
OJ L 325, 10.12.2015, p. 1–180
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
In force
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10.12.2015 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
L 325/1 |
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) 2015/2282
of 27 November 2015
amending Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 as regards the notification forms and information sheets
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1589 of 13 July 2015 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (1), and in particular Article 33 thereof,
After consulting the Advisory Committee on State aid,
Whereas:
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(1) |
The State aid modernisation initiative has focused on the identification of common principles for the assessment of the compatibility of all aid measures by the Commission. In that regard, the Commission considers an aid measure compatible with the Treaty only if it satisfies the criteria of contributing to a well-defined objective of common interest; the need for State intervention; appropriateness; incentive effect; proportionality; and avoidance of undue negative effects on competition and trade between Member States. The State aid guidelines have been revised and streamlined to reflect those common assessment principles. The State aid notification forms and information sheets contained in Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 (2) should therefore be adapted to ensure that the Commission receives all the information necessary for it to carry out its assessment under the modernised State aid rules. |
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(2) |
Aid measures should also comply with the transparency criteria set out in the Transparency Communication (3), which aim to promote compliance, reduce uncertainty and enable companies to check whether aid granted to competitors is legal. Transparency also facilitates enforcement for national and regional authorities by increasing awareness of aid granted at various levels, thus ensuring better monitoring and follow-up at national and local level. For that purpose, the notifying Member States should provide relevant information concerning the publication of information on the aid measures. |
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(3) |
In view of the potential impact on trade and competition of aid schemes with large aid budgets, or which have novel characteristics or involve significant market, technological or regulatory changes, Member States should carry out an evaluation of such schemes. In order to enable the Commission to assess the evaluation plan, Member States should submit to the Commission a draft evaluation plan at the same time as they notify the Commission of the aid scheme concerned. To that end, a new form for the evaluation plan, to be used by Member States, should be added to Regulation (EC) No 794/2004. |
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(4) |
Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly, |
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 is amended as follows:
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(1) |
the title is replaced by the following: ‘Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 of 21 April 2004 implementing Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1589 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union’; |
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(2) |
Annex I is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation; |
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(3) |
Annexes III A and III B are replaced by the text in Annex II to this Regulation. |
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 27 November 2015.
For the Commission
The President
Jean-Claude JUNCKER
(1) OJ L 248, 24.9.2015, p. 9.
(2) Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 of 21 April 2004 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the EC Treaty (OJ L 140, 30.4.2004, p. 1).
(3) Communication from the Commission amending the Communications from the Commission on EU Guidelines for the application of State aid rules in relation to the rapid deployment of broadband networks, on Guidelines on regional State aid for 2014–2020, on State aid for films and other audiovisual works, on Guidelines on State aid to promote risk finance investments, and on Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (OJ C 198, 27.6.2014, p. 30).
ANNEX I
Annex I is amended as follows:
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(1) |
Part I is replaced by the following: ‘PART I. GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Status of the notification Does the information transmitted on this form concern:
2. Identification of the aid grantor Member State concerned: … Region(s) of the Member State concerned (at NUTS level 2); include information on their regional aid status: … Contact person(s):
Please indicate the name, the address (including web address) and the e-mail contact of the granting authority:
Contact person at the Permanent Representation
If you would like a copy of the official correspondence sent by the Commission to the Member State to be forwarded to other national authorities, please indicate here their name, address (including their web address) and e-mail contact:
3. Beneficiaries 3.1. Location of the beneficiary(ies)
3.2. If applicable, location of the project(s)
3.3. Sector(s) affected by the aid measure (i.e. in which the aid beneficiaries are active):
3.4. In the case of an aid scheme, please specify: 3.4.1. Type of beneficiaries:
3.4.2. Estimated number of beneficiaries:
3.5. In the case of individual aid, either granted within the scope of a scheme or as ad hoc aid, please specify: 3.5.1. Name of the beneficiary(ies): … 3.5.2. Type of beneficiary(ies): …
Number of employees:… Annual turnover (full amount in national currency, in the last financial year): … Annual balance-sheet total (full amount in national currency, in the last financial year): … Existence of linked enterprise or partner enterprises (please attach a declaration according to Article 3(5) of the Commission Recommendation on SMEs (3) attesting to either the autonomous, linked or partner status of the beneficiary undertaking (4)): …
3.6. Is the beneficiary(ies) an undertaking in difficulty (5)?
3.7. Outstanding recovery orders 3.7.1. In the case of individual aid: The authorities of the Member State commit to suspend the award and/or payment of the notified aid if the beneficiary still has at its disposal earlier unlawful aid that was declared incompatible by a Commission Decision (either as individual aid or aid under an aid scheme being declared incompatible), until that beneficiary has reimbursed or paid into a blocked account the total amount of unlawful and incompatible aid and the corresponding recovery interest.
Please provide the reference to the national legal basis concerning this point: … 3.7.2. In the case of aid schemes: The authorities of the Member State commit to suspend the award and/or payment of any aid under the notified aid scheme to any undertaking that has benefited from earlier unlawful aid declared incompatible by a Commission Decision (either as an individual aid or an aid under an aid scheme being declared incompatible), until that undertaking has reimbursed or paid into a blocked account the total amount of unlawful and incompatible aid and the corresponding recovery interest.
Please provide the reference to the national legal basis concerning this point: … 4. National Legal Basis 4.1. Please provide the national legal basis of the aid measure including the implementing provisions and their respective sources: National legal basis:… … Implementing provisions (where applicable): … … References (where applicable): … 4.2. Please enclose with this notification one of the following:
4.3. In case of a final text, does the final text contain a stand-still clause whereby the aid granting body can only grant the aid after the Commission has authorised the aid?
4.4. Where the text of the legal basis contains a stand-still clause, please indicate whether the date of granting of the aid will be:
5. Identification of the Aid, Objective and Duration 5.1. Title of the aid measure (or name of the beneficiary of the individual aid) … 5.2. Brief description of the objective of the aid … 5.3. Does the measure concern the national co-financing of an European Fund for Strategic investment (EFSI) (6) project?
5.4. Type of aid 5.4.1. Does the notification relate to an aid scheme?
5.4.2. Does the notification relate to individual aid (8)?
5.4.3. Does the system of financing form an integral part of the aid measure (for example, by applying parafiscal levies in order to raise the necessary funds to allow for the aid to be granted)?
5.5. Duration ☐ Scheme Indicate the planned last date until which individual aid may be granted under the scheme. If the duration exceeds 6 years please indicate why a longer period is indispensable to achieve the objectives of the aid scheme. … ☐ Individual aid Indicate the planned date when the aid will be granted (9):… If the aid will be paid out in instalments, indicate the planned date(s) of each instalment… 6. Compatibility of the aid Common assessment principles (Sub-sections 6.2 to 6.7 do not apply to aid to the agriculture, fishery and aquaculture sectors (10) ) 6.1. Please indicate the primary objective and, where applicable, the secondary objective(s), of common interest to which the aid contributes:
6.2. Please explain the need for State intervention. Please note that the aid must be targeted towards a situation where it can bring about a material improvement which cannot be delivered by the market itself, by remedying a well-defined market failure. … … 6.3. Please indicate why the aid is an appropriate instrument to address the objective of common interest as defined in point 6.1. Please note that the aid will not be considered compatible if less distortive measures make it possible to achieve the same positive contribution. … … 6.4. Please indicate whether the aid has an incentive effect (that is, when the aid changes the behaviour of an undertaking leading it to engage in additional activity which it would not have engaged in without the aid or would only have engaged in such activity in a restricted or different manner).
Please indicate whether activities which started before the submission of an application for aid are eligible.
If they are eligible, please explain how the incentive effect requirement is complied with. … … 6.5. Please indicate why the aid granted is proportionate insofar as it amounts to the minimum needed to induce investment or activity. … … 6.6. Please indicate the possible negative effects of the aid on competition and trade and specify the extent to which they are outweighed by the positive effects. … … 6.7. In accordance with the Transparency Communication (12), please indicate whether the following information will be published on a single national or regional website: the full text of the approved aid scheme or the individual aid granting decision and its implementing provisions, or a link to it; the identity of the granting authority/(ies); the identity of the individual beneficiary(ies), the aid instrument (13) and amount of aid granted to each beneficiary(ies); the objective of the aid, the date of granting, the type of undertaking (for example SME, large company); the Commission's aid measure reference number; the region where the beneficiary is located (at NUTS level 2) and the principal economic sector of the beneficiary(ies) (at NACE group level) (14).
6.7.1. Please provide the address(es) of the website(s) on which the information will be made available: … … 6.7.2. If applicable, please provide the address(es) of the central website retrieving information from the regional website(s): … … 6.7.3. If the address(es) of the website referred to in point 6.7.2 are not known at the time of the submission of the notification, the Member State must undertake to inform the Commission once those websites are created and the addresses are known. 7. Aid instrument, Aid amount, Aid intensity and Means of funding 7.1. Aid instrument and aid amount Specify the form of the aid and the aid amount (15) made available to the beneficiary(ies) (where appropriate, for each measure):
For guarantees, please indicate the maximum amount of loans guaranteed:… For loans, please indicate the maximum (nominal) amount of the loan granted:… 7.2. Description of the aid instrument For each aid instrument chosen from the list in point 7.1, please describe the conditions of application of the aid (such as the tax treatment, whether the aid is awarded automatically based on certain objective criteria or whether there is an element of discretion by the awarding authorities): … … 7.3. Source of funding 7.3.1. Specify the financing of the aid:
7.3.2. Is the budget adopted annually?
7.3.3. If the notification concerns changes to an existing scheme, please indicate the budgetary effects for each of the aid instruments of the notified changes to the scheme on the: Overall budget… Annual budget (17)… 7.4. Cumulation Can the aid be cumulated with aid or de minimis aid (18) received from other local, regional or national aid (19) to cover the same eligible costs?
… … Please explain the mechanisms put in place in order to insure that the cumulation rules are respected: … …
8. Evaluation 8.1. Is the scheme considered for evaluation (20)?
If the scheme is not considered for evaluation, please explain why you consider the criteria for evaluation not to be fulfilled. …
According to which criteria is the scheme considered for ex post evaluation:
If any of the criteria referred to in this point are fulfilled, please indicate the period of evaluation and complete the supplementary information sheet for the notification of an evaluation plan in Annex 1, Part III.8 (21). … 8.2. Please indicate whether any ex-post evaluation has already been carried out for a similar scheme (where relevant, with a reference and a link to any relevant websites) … 9. Reporting and Monitoring In order to enable the Commission to monitor the aid scheme and individual aid, the notifying Member State undertakes to:
For fiscal aid schemes:
10. Confidentiality Does the notification contain confidential information (23) which should not be disclosed to third parties?
…
11. Other Information Where applicable, please indicate any other information relevant for the assessment of the aid. … … 12. Attachments Please list all documents which are attached to the notification and provide paper copies or internet addresses which allow access to the documents concerned. … … 13. Declaration I certify that to the best of my knowledge the information provided on this form, annexes and attachments is accurate and complete. Date and place of signature… Signature:… Name and position of person signing… 14. Supplementary Information Sheet 14.1. Based on the information submitted in the general information form, please select the applicable supplementary information sheet to be completed:
14.2. For aid which is not covered by any supplementary information sheet, please select the relevant provision of the TFEU, guideline or another text applicable to State aid:
Please provide a justification for the compatibility of the aid falling in the categories selected in this point: … … For practical reasons, it is recommended to number the documents provided as annexes and to refer to those document numbers in the relevant sections of the supplementary information sheets. ’ |
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(2) |
Parts III.1, III.2, III.3, III.4, III.5, III.6, III.7, III.8, III.9, III.10 and III.11 are replaced by the following: ‘PART III SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SHEETS PART III.1.A Supplementary Information Sheet on individual regional investment aid This supplementary information sheet must be used for the notification of any individual investment aid covered by the Guidelines on regional State aid 2014-2020 (1) (the “RAG”). Where several beneficiaries are involved in an individual aid measure, the relevant information must be provided for each of them. 1. Scope 1.1. Reasons for notifying the measure:
1.2. Scope of the notified aid measure 1.2.1. Please confirm that the beneficiary is not an undertaking in difficulty (3) … 1.2.2. If the measure covers investment aid to broadband networks, please explain how the aid granting authority will ensure that the following conditions are complied with and provide the reference to the relevant provisions in the legal basis and/or supporting documents:
… 1.2.3. If the measure covers aid to research infrastructures (5), please confirm that the aid is conditional on giving transparent and non-discriminatory access to this infrastructure and provide supporting documents to that effect and/or provide reference(s) to the relevant parts of the legal basis (paragraph 13 RAG). … 1.2.4. Please provide a copy of the application form and the (draft) aid granting agreement. 2. Additional information on the beneficiary, investment project and aid 2.1. Beneficiary 2.1.1. Identity of aid recipient(s): … 2.1.2. If the legal identity of the aid recipient is different from that of the undertaking(s) that finance(s) the project or the actual beneficiary or beneficiaries of the aid, describe those differences. … … 2.1.3. Please give a clear description of the relationship between the beneficiary, the group of enterprises it belongs to and other associated enterprises, including joint ventures. … … 2.2. The investment project 2.2.1. Please provide the following information on the notified investment project:
2.2.2. If the notification covers an investment in an “a” area or an investment by an one or more SMEs (6) in a “c” area, please specify the category or categories of initial investment concerned by the notification (paragraph 20(h) RAG):
2.2.3. If the notification covers an investment in a “c” area by a Large Enterprise, please specify the category or categories of initial investment concerned by the notification (paragraph 15 and paragraph 20(i) RAG):
2.2.4. Please describe briefly the investment explaining how the project concerned falls within one or more of the categories of initial investment indicated above: … … 2.3. Eligible costs calculated on the basis of investment costs 2.3.1. Please provide the following breakdown of the total eligible investment costs in nominal and discounted value:
2.3.2. Please confirm that the acquired assets are new (paragraph 94 RAG) (9).
2.3.3. Please provide evidence to show that in the case of SMEs not more than 50 % of the costs of preparatory studies or consultancy costs linked to the investment is included in the eligible cost (paragraph 95 RAG). … 2.3.4. Please provide evidence to show that for aid awarded for a fundamental change in the production process, the eligible costs exceed the depreciation of the assets linked to the activity to be modernised in the course of the three preceding fiscal years (paragraph 96 RAG). … 2.3.5. Please provide a reference to the legal basis or explain how it is ensured that for aid awarded for a diversification of an existing establishment, the eligible costs exceed by at least 200 % the book value of the assets that are reused, as registered in the fiscal year preceding the start of works (paragraph 97 RAG). If appropriate, provide documentation containing the relevant quantitative data. … 2.3.6. In cases involving the lease of tangible assets, please provide a reference to the relevant provisions in the legal basis where it is stipulated that the following conditions are respected (paragraph 98 RAG) or explain how respect for those conditions is otherwise achieved.
2.3.7. Paragraph 99 RAG provides that “In the case of acquisition of an establishment only the costs of buying the assets from third parties unrelated to the buyer should be taken into consideration. The transaction must take place under market conditions. Where aid has already been granted for the acquisition of assets prior to their purchase, the costs of those assets should be deducted from the eligible costs related to the acquisition of an establishment. If the acquisition of an establishment is accompanied by an additional investment eligible for aid, the eligible costs of this latter investment should be added to the costs of purchase of the assets of the establishment”. If relevant in the notified case, please explain how those conditions have been complied with, providing relevant supporting documentation. … 2.3.8. If the eligible expenditure for the investment project includes intangible assets, please explain how it is ensured that the conditions set out in paragraphs 101 to 102 RAG (10) will be respected. In such cases please provide a precise reference to the relevant provision in the legal basis. … 2.4. Eligible costs calculated on the basis of wage costs Please:
… 2.5. Calculation of discounted eligible costs and the amount of aid 2.5.1. Please fill in the table in this point with the details of the eligible costs by category of eligible cost to be defrayed over the whole duration of the investment project:
Please indicate the date to which the amounts were discounted, as well as the discount rate used (11): … 2.5.2. Please complete the table in this point with the details of the notified aid (to be) granted for the investment project by reference to the applicable form of aid:
Please indicate the date to which the amounts were discounted, as well as the discount rate used: … For each form of aid mentioned in the table in point 2.5.2 please indicate how the grant equivalent is calculated:
2.5.3. Please specify whether any of the aid measures to be granted to the project are not yet defined, and explain how the granting authority will ensure that the applicable maximum aid intensity is respected (paragraphs 82 and 83 RAG): … 2.5.4. Is the project co-financed by the ESI Funds? If so, please explain under which operational programme the ESI Funds finance will be obtained. Please also indicate the amount of ESI Fund finance that will be involved. … 2.5.5. If the beneficiary (at group level) has received aid for one (or more) initial investment(s) started in the same NUTS 3 region over a period of three years from the date of start of works of the notified investment project (paragraph 20(t) RAG), please provide details of the aid measures for each of the previous aided initial investments (including a short description of the investment project, the date of aid application, the date of the aid award, the date of start of works, the aid amount(s) and the eligible costs (12)).
2.5.6. Please confirm that the total amount of aid that will be granted to the initial investment project does not exceed the “maximum aid intensity” (as defined in paragraph 20(m) RAG), taking into account the increased aid intensity for SMEs (as determined in paragraph 177 RAG) and the “adjusted aid amount” (as defined in paragraph 20(c) RAG), where applicable. Please provide the relevant supporting documentation and calculations. … 2.5.7. Where the aid to be granted to the investment project is to be awarded under several regional aid schemes or cumulated with ad hoc aid, please confirm that the maximum permissible aid intensity that may be granted to the project has been calculated in advance by the first granting authority and specify the amount of that maximum aid intensity. Please explain how the aid granting authorities will ensure that that maximum aid intensity will be respected (paragraph 92 RAG). … 2.5.8. If the initial investment is linked to a European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) project please explain with reference to the provisions set out in paragraph 93 RAG how the maximum aid intensity applicable to the project and the different beneficiaries involved are established. … 3. Compatibility assessment of the measure 3.1. Contribution to regional objectives and need for State intervention 3.1.1. Please:
… 3.1.2. Please explain how the aid will contribute to regional development (13). … 3.1.3. If the notification concerns an individual application for aid under a scheme, please explain how the project contributes towards the objective of the scheme and provide relevant supporting documents (paragraph 35 RAG). … 3.1.4. If the notification concerns ad hoc aid, please explain how the project contributes towards the development strategy of the area concerned and provide relevant supporting documents (paragraph 42 RAG). … 3.1.5. Please explain how the provision requiring that the investment will be maintained in the area concerned for at least five years (three years for SMEs) after its completion is implemented (paragraph 36 RAG). Please provide the reference to the relevant provision in the legal basis (e.g. the aid granting contract). … 3.1.6. In cases where the aid is calculated on the basis of wage costs, please explain how the method of implementation of the provision requiring that jobs are created within three years of the investment completion and that each job created by the investment will be maintained within the area for a period of five years (three years for SMEs) from the date the post is first filled is implemented (paragraph 37 RAG). Please provide the reference to the relevant provision in the legal basis (e.g. the aid granting contract). … 3.1.7. Please provide a reference to the legal basis or demonstrate that the recipient(s) has to make a contribution of at least 25 % of the eligible costs, through its own resources or by external financing, in a form that is exempted of any public financial support (14) (paragraph 38 RAG). … 3.1.8. Did you or do you commit to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) for the investment (paragraph 39 RAG).
If no, please explain why an EIA is not required for this project. … 3.2. Appropriateness of the measure 3.2.1. If the notification concerns ad hoc aid, please demonstrate how the development of the area concerned is better ensured by such aid than by aid under a scheme or other types of measures (paragraph 55 RAG): … 3.2.2. If the aid is granted in forms that provide a direct pecuniary advantage (15), please demonstrate why other potentially less distortive forms of aid such as repayable advances or forms of aid that are based on debt or equity instruments (16) are not appropriate (paragraph 57 RAG): … 3.3. Incentive effect and proportionality of the measure 3.3.1. Please confirm that works on the notified individual investment started only after submission of the application for the aid (paragraph 64 RAG). Please provide a copy of the aid application sent to the granting authority by the beneficiary and documentary evidence of the date of the start of works. … 3.3.2. Please explain the incentive effect of the aid by describing the counterfactual scenario with reference to one of the two possible scenarios set out in paragraph 61 RAG. … 3.3.3. In Scenario 1 cases (that is to say, investment decisions under paragraph 61 RAG), please provide the following information (or refer to the relevant parts of the submitted counterfactual scenario) (paragraph 104 RAG):
3.3.4. In Scenario 2 cases (that is to say, location decisions under paragraph 61 RAG), please provide the following information (or refer to the relevant parts of the submitted counterfactual scenario) (paragraph 105 RAG):
3.3.5. If the regional aid is awarded through ESI Funds in “a” regions to investments necessary to achieve standards set by Union law, please explain the following (and provide supporting documentation):
… 3.4. Avoidance of negative effects on competition and trade For scenario 1 cases Definition of the relevant market 3.4.1. Please provide the information specified in this point to identify the relevant product market(s) (that is to say, products affected by the change in behaviour of the aid beneficiary) and to identify the competitors and customers/consumers affected (paragraphs 129 and 130 RAG):
3.4.2. Please provide information, and supporting evidence, on the relevant geographic market of the beneficiary: … Market Power (paragraph 115 and paragraph 132(a)RAG) 3.4.3. Please provide the following information on the market position of the beneficiary (over a period of time before receiving the aid and the expected market position after finalising the investment):
3.4.4. Provide an assessment of the structure of the relevant market including, for example, the level of concentration in the market, possible barriers to entry, buyer power and barriers to expansion or exit. Please provide evidence, from an independent third party if possible, to support the conclusions on this point. … Capacity (paragraph 132(a) RAG) 3.4.5. Provide an estimate of the additional production capacity created by the investment (in volume and value terms): … For all cases Manifest negative effects 3.4.6. In Scenario 1 cases, please provide the following information, and supporting evidence, on the relevant product market (20):
In Scenario 2 cases, please indicate whether without aid the investment would have been located in a region with a regional aid intensity which is higher or the same as the target region (paragraph 139 RAG). Please provide supporting evidence. … 3.4.7. Please confirm whether the beneficiary has submitted a statement in which it confirms that, at group level, it has not closed down the same or a similar activity in the EEA in the two years preceding the aid application and does not intend to close down the same or a similar activity elsewhere in the EEA in the two years after the completion of investment (paragraph 23 RAG). If such a statement was provided, please annex a copy of it to the notification, otherwise, please explain why it was not provided. … 3.4.8. If the beneficiary at group level has closed down the same or a similar activity in another area in the EEA in the two years preceding the aid application, or intends to do so in the two years after the completion of investment, and has relocated that activity to the target area, or intends to do so, please explain why it considers that there is no causal link between the aid and the relocation (paragraph 122 RAG). … 3.4.9. Please explain whether the State aid would directly result in a substantial loss of jobs in existing locations within the EEA. If the State aid would result in a substantial loss of jobs in existing locations within the EEA, please indicate their number and the proportion compared to the total employment of the location(s) concerned. … 4. Other information Please provide any other relevant information to assess the notified aid measure under the RAG: … PART III.1.B Supplementary Information Sheet on regional investment aid schemes This supplementary information sheet must be used for the notification of any investment aid schemes covered by the Guidelines on regional State aid 2014-2020 (21) (the “RAG”). 1. Scope 1.1. Reasons for notifying the scheme instead of putting it in place under the General Block Exemption Regulation (“GBER”) (22) or de minimis Regulation (23):
1.2. Scope of the notified scheme 1.2.1. I confirm that the legal basis for the notified scheme foresees an obligation to notify to the Commission individual aid to beneficiaries that have closed down the same or a similar activity (24) in the EEA during the two years preceding the date of applying for aid or at the moment of the aid application have the intention to close down such an activity within a period of two years after the investment to be subsidised is completed (paragraph 23 RAG). Please provide the reference to the relevant provision of the legal basis: … 1.2.2. I confirm that the notified aid scheme provides that no regional investment aid will be granted to categories of companies and sectors listed below. In each case, please list the relevant provision in the legal basis of the scheme.
1.2.3. If the scheme covers investment aid to broadband networks please specify whether each of the following conditions are complied with:
Please provide the reference to the relevant provision of the legal basis: … 1.2.4. If the scheme covers aid to research infrastructures, is the aid made conditional on giving transparent and non-discriminatory access to this infrastructure?
2. Initial investment, eligible costs and aid 2.1. Types of initial investments covered by the scheme 2.1.1. Where the scheme covers investments in “a” areas by SMEs or large enterprises (26) or investments by SME(s) in “c” areas (paragraph 34 RAG), please specify the category or categories of initial investment concerned by the notification (paragraph 20(h) RAG):
2.1.2. In case the scheme covers investments in “c” areas by large enterprises, please specify the category or categories of initial investment concerned by the notification (paragraph 15and paragraph 20(i) RAG):
2.1.3. Please provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis where it is stipulated that the Commission will be notified of any individual aid to be granted under the legal basis of the scheme to large enterprises in “c” areas for (paragraphs 24 and 34 RAG):
… 2.1.4. Please provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis where it is stipulated that the Commission will be notified of any individual aid to be granted under the legal basis of the scheme that would lead to the notification threshold being exceeded (29) (paragraph 23 RAG). … 2.2. Eligible costs calculated on the basis of investment costs 2.2.1. Where the eligible expenditure (paragraph 20(x) RAG) under the scheme relates to tangible assets, is the value of the investment established as a percentage on the basis of land, buildings and plant, machinery and equipment? (30):
Please provide the reference to the relevant parts of the legal basis: … 2.2.2. Please provide a reference to the relevant provision of the legal basis which stipulate that the acquired assets should be new (31) (paragraph 94 RAG) … … 2.2.3. Please provide a reference to the relevant provision in the legal basis which stipulate that in the case of SMEs not more than 50 % of the costs of preparatory studies or consultancy costs linked to the investment can be considered as eligible costs (paragraph 95 RAG). … … 2.2.4. Please provide a reference to the relevant provision of the legal basis which stipulates that for aid awarded for a fundamental change in the production process, the eligible costs exceed the depreciation of the assets linked to the activity to be modernised in the course of the preceding three fiscal years (paragraph 96 RAG). … … 2.2.5. Please provide a reference to the relevant provision of the legal basis which stipulates that for aid awarded for a diversification of an existing establishment, the eligible costs exceed by at least 200 % the book value of the assets that are reused, as registered in the fiscal year preceding the start of works (paragraph 97 RAG). … … 2.2.6. In cases involving the lease of tangible assets, please provide a reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis which stipulate that the following conditions should be respected (paragraph 98 RAG):
2.2.7. Paragraph 99 RAG provides that “In the case of acquisition of an establishment only the costs of buying the assets from third parties unrelated to the buyer should be taken into consideration. The transaction must take place under market conditions. Where aid has already been granted for the acquisition of assets prior to their purchase, the costs of those assets should be deducted from the eligible costs related to the acquisition of an establishment. If the acquisition of an establishment is accompanied by an additional investment eligible for aid, the eligible costs of this latter investment should be added to the costs of purchase of the assets of the establishment”. If relevant for the notified scheme, please provide a reference to the provisions of the legal basis which stipulate that the conditions in this point should be respected. … 2.2.8. Where the eligible expenditure under the scheme relates to intangible assets (paragraph 20(j) RAG), is the value of the investment established on the basis of expenditure entailed by the transfer of technology through the acquisition of patent rights, licences, know-how or unpatented technical knowledge?
Please provide the reference to the relevant parts of the legal basis: … 2.2.9. Please provide a reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis which stipulate that for large undertakings the expenditure on eligible intangible investment must not exceed 50 % of the total eligible investment costs of the project (paragraph 100 RAG). … 2.2.10. Please provide a reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis which stipulate that the conditions set out in paragraphs 101 and 102 RAG (32) should be respected. … 2.3. Eligible costs calculated on the basis of wage costs Please provide a reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis where it is stipulated how the eligible costs calculated on the basis of wage costs should be established (paragraph 103 RAG), how the number of jobs created should be calculated with reference to paragraph 20(k) RAG and how the wage costs of the persons hired should be established with reference to paragraph 20(z) RAG. … 2.4. Calculation of discounted eligible costs 2.4.1. Please indicate which forms of aid are allowed under the scheme:
2.4.2. Is the aid scheme eligible to be co-financed by the ESI Funds? If so, please mention under which operational programmes the ESI Funds finance might be obtained. Please also indicate the amount of ESI Funds finance that will be involved, if known at this stage. … 2.4.3. Please provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis which stipulate that the aid granting authority should establish before granting individual aid under the notified scheme whether the beneficiary (at group level) received aid for one (or more) initial investment(s) started in the same NUTS 3 region in a period of three years from the date of start of works on the investment project. … 2.4.4. Please provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis which stipulate that the total amount of aid that will be granted under the scheme to any initial investment project does not exceed the “maximum aid intensity” (as defined in paragraph 20(m) RAG), taking into account the increased aid intensity for SMEs (as determined in paragraph 177 RAG) or the “adjusted aid amount” (as defined in paragraph 20(c) RAG), where applicable. … 2.4.5. Please provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis which stipulate that where individual aid is awarded under several regional aid schemes or cumulated with ad hoc aid, the maximum permissible aid intensity that may be granted to the project will be calculated in advance by the first granting authority (paragraph 92 RAG) … 2.4.6. Where the aid scheme allows for aid to initial investment linked to European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) projects please provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis which stipulate (with reference to the provisions set out in paragraph 93 RAG) how the maximum aid intensity applicable to the project and the different beneficiaries involved will be established. … 3. Compatibility assessment of the aid scheme 3.1. Contribution to regional objective and need for State intervention Is the scheme part of an Operational Programme (33) (paragraph 32 RAG)?
3.1.1. Please provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis containing the requirement to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) for the investments concerned before granting aid to individual projects, when so required by law (paragraph 39 RAG). … 3.1.2. Please explain how the granting authorities will prioritise and select the investment projects according to the objectives of the scheme (for example, on the basis of a formal scoring approach) (paragraph 33 RAG). Please also provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis or other related administrative acts. … 3.1.3. Please explain how, when awarding aid to individual investment projects under the notified scheme, the aid granting authority will establish that the selected project(s) contributes towards the objective of the scheme and thus towards the development strategy of the area concerned (paragraph 35 RAG). … 3.1.4. Please explain how the provision requiring that any investment supported under the notified scheme will be maintained in the area concerned for at least five years (three years for SMEs) after its completion is implemented (paragraph 36 RAG). Please provide the reference to the relevant provisions in the legal basis. … 3.1.5. In cases where the aid granted under the notified scheme is calculated on the basis of wage costs, please explain the method of implementation of the provision requiring that jobs are created within three years of the investment completion and that each job created by the investment concerned is maintained within the area for a period of five years (three years for SMEs) from the date the post is first filled (paragraph 37 RAG). Please provide the reference to the relevant provision in the legal basis. … 3.1.6. Please provide a reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis where it is stipulated that recipients have to make a contribution of at least 25 % of the eligible costs, through their own resources or by external financing, in a form that is exempted of any public financial support (34) (paragraph 38 RAG). … 3.1.7. Please provide a reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis showing that the scheme should respect the ceilings of the regional aid map applicable at the time of awarding the aid (paragraph 81 RAG). Please also provide the reference to the Commission decision approving the regional aid map concerned. … 3.2. Appropriateness of the scheme 3.2.1. If the scheme is not eligible under an Operational Programme, please explain why regional aid is an appropriate instrument to tackle the common objective of equity or cohesion (35) (paragraph 52 RAG): … 3.2.2. Where the scheme is sector-specific and is not eligible for co-financing by Structural Funds, please demonstrate the advantages of such an instrument compared to a multi-sectoral scheme or other policy options (paragraph 53 RAG): … 3.2.3. Will individual aid under the notified scheme be granted:
Please provide the reference to the relevant provision of the legal basis: … If aid is to be granted on a discretionary basis, please provide a short description of the criteria used and attach a copy of the internal administrative provisions of the granting authority applicable for the awarding of aid: … 3.2.4. If the aid under the scheme is granted in forms that provide a direct pecuniary advantage (36), please demonstrate why other potentially less distortive forms of aid such as repayable advances or forms of aid that are based on debt or equity instruments (37) are not appropriate (paragraph 57 RAG): … 3.3. Incentive effect and proportionality of the scheme 3.3.1. Please provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis stipulating that any application for aid must be submitted before work is started on the investment project concerned (paragraph 64 RAG): … 3.3.2. Please provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis which stipulate that those applying for aid under the notified scheme will be obliged to submit a standard application form provided by the aid granting authority in which they must explain counterfactually what would happen if they do not receive the aid and indicate which of the scenarios (Scenario 1 — investment decision or Scenario 2 — location decision) applies (paragraph 66 and paragraph 61 RAG). If that application form differs from the example provided in Annex V to the RAG, please provide a copy of that application. … 3.3.3. Please provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis which stipulate that large enterprises who apply for aid under the notified scheme are required to provide documentary evidence in support of the counterfactual described. (paragraph 67 RAG). Please also explain what type of documents will be required. … 3.3.4. Please provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis which stipulate that when assessing individual aid applications the aid granting authority is obliged to carry out a credibility check of the counterfactual provided and to verify that regional aid has the required incentive effect corresponding to Scenario 1 or Scenario 2 (38) (paragraph 68 RAG). … 3.3.5. Please provide the reference to the relevant provisions of the legal basis which stipulate that individual aid granted to large enterprises under the notified scheme will be limited to the net extra costs of implementing the investment in the area concerned compared to the counterfactual in the absence of aid, using the method explained in paragraph 79 and paragraph 80 RAG (paragraph 88 RAG). … 3.4. Avoidance of undue negative effects on competition and trade 3.4.1. Please explain how the distortions of competition and trade caused by the notified aid scheme will be limited to the minimum (paragraph 125 RAG) (39): … 3.4.2. Please provide references to the relevant provisions in the legal basis stipulating that when awarding aid under the scheme to individual projects, the granting authority must verify and confirm that without aid the investment would not have been located in a region with a regional aid intensity which is higher or the same as the target region (paragraph 126 RAG). … 3.4.3. Please provide references to the relevant provisions in the legal basis which stipulate that when awarding aid under the scheme to individual projects, the granting authority must notify individual aid grants in cases where the beneficiary has closed down the same or a similar activity in another area in the EEA in the two years preceding the date of applying for aid or at the moment of the aid application has the intention to close down such an activity within a period of two years after the investment to be subsidised is completed (paragraph 122 RAG). … 4. Other information Please provide any other information that is of relevance to assess the notified aid measure under the RAG: … PART III.1.C Supplementary Information Sheet on regional operating aid schemes This supplementary information sheet must be used for the notification of any operating aid schemes covered by the Guidelines on regional State aid 2014-2020 (40) (the “RAG”). 1. Scope
2. Basic elements of the scheme 2.1. Please provide a description of the main elements of the scheme and its objectives: … 2.2. Please indicate which forms of aid are allowed under the scheme:
2.3. The individual aid under the notified scheme will be granted:
Should the aid be granted on a case by case basis, please provide a short description of the criteria that will be applied. If administrative guidance for the assessment of the aid application exists, please attach a copy: … 2.4. Will the aid scheme be co-financed by the ESI Funds? If so, please explain under which operational programmes ESI Funds finance will be obtained. Please also indicate the amount of ESI Funds finance that will be involved. … 3. Compatibility of the aid 3.1. Contribution to regional objective and incentive effect: For aid to reduce certain specific difficulties faced by SMEs (41) in “a” areas 3.1.1. Please list the specific difficulties faced by SMEs in the region concerned to be addressed by the scheme (paragraph 43 RAG) and demonstrate the existence and importance of those difficulties (paragraph 44 RAG). … 3.1.2. Please explain why the difficulties listed in point 3.1.1 cannot be overcome by investment aid and thus the notified operating aid scheme is needed (paragraph 44 RAG): … For aid to compensate certain additional costs in the outermost regions 3.1.3. Please identify the specific additional costs (42) that will be compensated under the scheme and demonstrate how those costs are related to the permanent handicaps set out in Article 349 TFEU (paragraph 45 RAG): … For aid to reduce depopulation in very sparsely populated areas 3.1.4. Please demonstrate the risk of depopulation of the relevant area in the absence of operating aid (paragraph 46 RAG): … 3.2. Appropriateness of the scheme Please indicate why the aid proposed is considered appropriate to achieve the objective of the scheme. Please explain in particular why other less distortive policy instruments and other less distortive types of aid instrument are not appropriate to achieve the same positive contribution to regional development (paragraphs 50, 56, 57 and 58 RAG): … 3.3. Proportionality of the scheme For all types of operating aid 3.3.1. Please determine the eligible costs that are fully attributable to the problems the aid is intended to address (paragraph 109 RAG): … 3.3.2. Please confirm that depreciation charges and the costs of financing included in the eligible costs relevant to regional investment aid will not be included in the eligible costs for operating aid (paragraph 109 RAG), and provide the reference to the relevant provision of the legal basis: … 3.3.3. Please describe the compensation model (paragraph 56 RAG) that will be adopted and how that model will allow an appropriate calculation of the aid amount, ensuring that there is no overcompensation, as defined in paragraph 109 RAG: … 3.3.4. Please indicate whether operating aid is also granted through other operating aid schemes in the region, by mentioning the relevant State aid reference of those schemes. … 3.3.5. In case other operating aid schemes are applicable in the same region, please explain how it is ensured that operating aid granted under different operating aid schemes does not lead to overcompensation: … For operating aid in outermost regions only 3.3.6. Please demonstrate that the additional costs to be compensated under the notified scheme will be quantified in relation to the level of costs incurred by similar undertakings established in other regions of the Member State concerned (paragraph 110 RAG): … For operating aid to reduce certain specific difficulties faced by SMEs in certain “a” areas only 3.3.7. Please explain how the level of aid will be progressively reduced over the duration of the scheme (paragraph 111 RAG) and provide the reference to the relevant provision of the legal basis: … 3.4. Avoidance of undue negative effects on competition and trade Please explain why it is unlikely that the aid granted under the scheme will create very significant distortions of competition in the market (paragraph 140 RAG): … 4. Other information Please provide any other information that is of relevance to assess the notified aid measure under the RAG: … PART III.2 Supplementary information sheet for research and development and innovation aid This supplementary information sheet must be used for the notification of any aid measures (aid schemes and individual aid) covered by the Framework for state aid for research and development and innovation (“the R & D&I Framework”) (43). In case there are several beneficiaries involved in an individual aid measure, the relevant information must be provided for each of them. 1. Characteristics of the notified aid measure 1.1. Aid schemes
1.2. Individual aid
1.3. General information
2. Research organisations and research infrastructures
3. Indirect state aid to undertakings through research organisations and research infrastructures 3.1. Research on behalf of undertakings
3.2. Collaboration with undertakings
4. Public procurement of research and development services
5. Description of the notified aid measure 5.1. Aid for R & D projects
5.2. Aid for feasibility studies
5.3. Aid for the construction and upgrade of research infrastructures
5.4. Innovation aid for SMEs
5.5. Aid for process and organisational innovation
5.6. Aid for innovation clusters
5.6.1. Investment aid
5.6.2. Operating aid
6. Compatibility assessment of the notified aid measure For individual aid, please provide a comprehensive description of the aided project or activity: … … 6.1. Contribution to a well-defined objective of common interest
6.2. Need for State intervention
6.2.1. Individual aid
6.3. Appropriateness of the aid measure
6.4. Incentive effect
6.4.1. Individual aid
6.5. Proportionality of the aid
6.5.1. Individual aid
6.6. Avoidance of undue negative effects on competition and trade Please indicate whether:
If the answer to any of the questions in this section is yes, please provide details: … … 6.6.1. Aid scheme For aid schemes, please indicate how it will be ensured that any negative effects will be limited to the minimum (taking account, for example, of the size of the projects concerned, the individual and cumulative aid amounts, the number of expected beneficiaries and the characteristics of the targeted sectors) and provide any impact assessment or ex-post evaluations carried out for similar predecessor schemes: … … 6.6.2. Individual aid
7. Other information Please provide any other information that would be of relevance to assess the notified aid measure under the R & D&I Framework: … … PART III.3.A Supplementary information sheet on aid for rescuing non-financial undertakings in difficulty: individual aid This supplementary information sheet must be filled in for the notification of individual rescue aid covered by the Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty (50) (“Guidelines”). 1. Eligibility 1.1. Undertaking in difficulty
1.2. An undertaking facing acute liquidity needs: If you consider that the beneficiary is eligible for rescue aid even though it does not qualify as an undertaking in difficulty, please explain why you consider that it faces acute liquidity needs due to exceptional and unforeseen circumstances and include reference to the supporting evidence or documents (e.g. cash flow projections). 1.3. Newly created undertaking/larger business group:
1.4. Sectoral scope: Is the undertaking active in:
2. Compatibility with the internal market 2.1. Contribution to an objective of common interest:
2.2. Appropriateness/Form of aid
2.3. Proportionality of the aid/aid limited to the minimum Is the amount of the rescue aid determined in accordance with the formula set out in Annex I to the Guidelines?
If so, please provide the calculation of the amount of the rescue aid in accordance with the formula. If the amount of the rescue aid exceeds the result of calculations on the basis of the formula set out in Annex I to the Guidelines, please provide a duly justified liquidity plan setting out the beneficiary's liquidity needs for the coming six months. … … 2.4. Negative effects — “One time, last time” principle Has the undertaking (or the group to which it belongs) already received in the past any rescue aid, restructuring aid or temporary restructuring support (58) and/or any non-notified aid?
If so, please provide full details (date, amount, reference to previous Commission decision if applicable, etc.) (59). … … 3. Other information Please indicate here any other information you consider relevant for the assessment of the measure(s) concerned under the Guidelines: … … PART III.3.B Supplementary information sheet on aid for restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty: individual aid This supplementary information sheet must be filled in for the notification of individual restructuring aid covered by the Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty (60) (“Guidelines”). 1. Eligibility 1.1. Undertaking in difficulty
1.2. Newly created undertaking or larger business group
1.3. Sectoral scope Is the undertaking active in:
1.4. SGEI provider:
2. Compatibility with the internal market 2.1. Contribution to an objective of common interest:
2.2. Restructuring plan and return to long-term viability Please provide the restructuring plan (67) aiming at restoring the long-term viability (68) of the beneficiary within a reasonable timescale together with a market survey and a sensitivity analysis identifying the driving parameters of the beneficiary's performance and the main risk factors going forward (please follow as much as possible the indicative restructuring plan set out in Annex II to the Guidelines). 3. Need for State intervention/incentive effect 3.1. Please provide a comparison between the measures set out in the restructuring plan and a credible alternative scenario not involving State aid (69) demonstrating that in such an alternative scenario the relevant objective or objectives that you have identified in section 2.1 would not be attained, or would be attained to a lesser degree. 3.2. Please demonstrate that in the absence of the aid, the beneficiary would have been restructured, sold or wound up in a way that would not have achieved the objective of common interest identified in section 2.1. 4. Appropriateness 4.1. Please provide a short description of the State aid instruments chosen, including the form, amount and remuneration (70): … … 4.2. Please explain whether the problems of the beneficiary are caused by liquidity and/or solvency issues, or by both: … … 4.3. Please demonstrate that the State aid instruments chosen are appropriate to address the problems identified in point 4.2 (that is to say liquidity or solvency issues). … … 5. Proportionality of the aid/aid limited to the minimum 5.1. Own contribution
5.2. Burden-sharing To be completed if the State aid is granted in a form that enhances the beneficiary's equity position (73)
6. Negative effects 6.1. “One time, last time” principle Has the undertaking (or the group to which it belongs) already received any rescue aid, restructuring aid or temporary restructuring support (74) and/or any non-notified aid?
If yes, please provide full details (date, amount, reference to previous Commission decision if applicable, etc.) (75): … … 6.2. Measures to limit distortions of competition: Structural measures — divestments and reduction of business activities
Behavioural measures
Market opening measures
Calibration of measures to limit distortions of competition
7. Other information 7.1. Please indicate here any other information you consider relevant for the assessment of the measure(s) concerned under the Guidelines (e.g. as regards measures to increase employability of redundant workers or assistance with finding new employment): … … PART III.3.C Supplementary information sheet on rescue aid, restructuring aid and/or temporary restructuring support: aid schemes This supplementary information sheet must be filled with regard to rescue aid, restructuring aid and temporary restructuring support schemes covered by the Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty (79) (“Guidelines”). 1. Scope of the scheme 1.1. Does the scheme concern provision of:
2. Eligibility 2.1. Is the scheme limited to SMEs (80) in difficulty or smaller State-owned undertakings in difficulty (81) (unless clearly indicated otherwise hereafter together referred as “SMEs”)?
2.2. Is the scheme limited to SMEs that fulfil one of the following eligibility criteria:
2.3. Does the scheme foresee that rescue aid or temporary restructuring support, or both, can be granted to SMEs that do not qualify as undertakings in difficulty but are merely facing acute liquidity needs due to exceptional and unforeseen circumstances?
2.4. If the answer to point 2.3 is yes, please explain how it will be assessed whether an SME faces acute liquidity needs and which kinds of circumstances are qualified as exceptional and unforeseen. … … 2.5. Does the scheme apply to newly-created SMEs?
2.6. Does the scheme apply to SMEs active in:
3. Maximum amount of aid 3.1. Is the maximum total amount of aid to be granted to any one SME under the scheme limited to a maximum of EUR 10 million, including any aid obtained from other sources or under other schemes?
3.2. Please indicate the maximum amount of aid to be granted to an SME under the scheme: … … 4. Compatibility with the internal market In the case of rescue, restructuring aid and temporary restructuring support 4.1. Contribution to an objective of common interest:
In the case of restructuring aid 4.2. Restructuring plan and return to long-term viability In relation to the grant of restructuring aid, does the scheme require the provision of a restructuring plan (88) aiming at restoring the long-term viability (89) of the beneficiary within a reasonable timescale (please see an indicative restructuring plan in Annex II to the Guidelines)?
5. Need for State intervention and incentive effect 5.1. In relation to the grant of restructuring aid, does the scheme require that the national authorities compare the measures set out in the restructuring plan with a credible alternative scenario not involving State aid (90) demonstrating that in such an alternative scenario the relevant objective or objectives of common interest, as described in section 4.1 above, would not be attained, or would be attained to a lesser degree? In particular, does the scheme require a demonstration that in the absence of the aid, the beneficiary would have been restructured, sold or wound up in a way that would not have achieved the objective or objectives of common interest, as described in section 4.1 above?
5.2. If the answer to point 5.1 is yes, please explain according to which criteria the national authorities will assess it. … … 6. Appropriateness In the case of rescue aid 6.1. Is the aid granted under the scheme restricted to loan guarantees or loans?
6.2. Does the scheme require that the financial cost of the loan (or, in the case of loan guarantees, the total financial cost of the guaranteed loan, including the interest rate of the loan and the guarantee premium) is set at a rate not lower than the reference rate set out by the Commission in its Reference Rate Communication (91) for weak undertakings offering normal levels of collateralisation?
6.3. Does the scheme provide that rescue aid is granted for no longer than six months, during which an analysis must be made of the beneficiary's position?
6.4. Does the scheme provide that, within six months after granting the rescue aid, the loan will be reimbursed or the guarantee terminated, unless before that time either: (a) the national authorities have approved a restructuring plan, or liquidation plan, or (b) the beneficiary has submitted a simplified restructuring plan (92) (in case of temporary restructuring support)?
6.5. Does the scheme provide that the rescue aid must not be used to finance structural measures, such as acquisition of significant businesses or assets, other than those required during the rescue period for the survival of the beneficiary?
In the case of restructuring aid 6.6. Please explain on basis of which criteria the national authorities will assess to what extent the problems of the beneficiary relate to liquidity or solvency or both, and how they will select the State aid instruments which will address the problems identified in the most appropriate way: … … In the case of temporary restructuring support 6.7. Is the temporary restructuring support to be granted under the scheme restricted to loan guarantees or loans?
6.8. Does the scheme require that the financial cost of the loan (or, in the case of loan guarantees, the total financial cost of the guaranteed loan, including the interest rate of the loan and the guarantee premium) be set at a rate not lower than the reference rate set out by the Commission in its Reference Rate Communication for weak undertakings offering normal levels of collateralisation?
6.9. Does the scheme require that the remuneration for the temporary restructuring support be increased by at least 50 basis points 12 months after the disbursement of the first instalment to the beneficiary (less any immediately preceding period of rescue aid)?
6.10. Does the scheme provide that temporary restructuring support be granted for no longer than 18 months, less any immediately preceding period of rescue aid?
6.11. Does the scheme provide that not later than six months after disbursement of the first instalment of the temporary restructuring support to the beneficiary, less any immediately preceding period of rescue aid, the national authorities will approve a simplified restructuring plan?
6.12. Does the scheme provide that within 18 months from the date of granting of the temporary restructuring support, less any immediately preceding period of rescue aid, the loan will be reimbursed or the guarantee terminated, unless before that time a restructuring plan or liquidation plan of the beneficiary has been approved by the national authorities?
7. Proportionality of the aid or aid limited to the minimum In the case of rescue aid and temporary restructuring support 7.1. Amount of aid
In the case of restructuring aid 7.2. Own contribution
7.3. Burden-sharing To be completed if the scheme provides that the State aid can be granted in a form enhancing the beneficiary's equity position (94):
8. Negative effects 8.1. “One time, last time” principle: Does the scheme exclude (95) the provision of aid to any SME which has received rescue aid, restructuring aid or temporary restructuring support in the past (96) and/or any non-notified aid?
In the case of restructuring aid 8.2. Measures to limit distortions of competition (97): Structural measures — divestments and reduction of business activities
Behavioural measures
Market opening measures
9. General 9.1. Does the scheme apply to SMEs in an assisted area?
9.2. Do specific provisions apply to SMEs in assisted areas under the scheme?
9.3. If the answer to point 9.2 is yes, please explain which specific provisions apply and why they are justified. … … 9.4. Do the national authorities intend to accept a contribution which constitutes less than 40 % of the restructuring costs in the case of medium-sized enterprises or less than 25 % of the restructuring costs in the case of small enterprises?
9.5. If the answer to point 9.4 is yes, please explain how the national authorities will apply the requirements concerning the measures to limit distortions of competition in order to limit the negative systematic impacts for the region: … … 10. Other information Please provide any other information that would be of relevance to assess the notified aid measure under the Guidelines (e.g. as regards measures to increase employability of redundant workers or assistance with finding new employment): … PART III.4 Supplementary Information Sheet on aid for films and other audiovisual works This supplementary information sheet must be used for notifications of aid covered by the Commission Communication on State aid for films and other audiovisual works (102) 1. Characteristics of the notified aid measure(s) 1.1. Please describe as accurately as possible the purpose of the aid, where appropriate, for each measure: … … 1.2. Please describe the scope of each measure, in terms of: 1.2.1. the type of activities covered (e.g. development, production, distribution): … … 1.2.2. the type of works covered (e.g. cinematographic works, television series, transmedia projects): … … 1.3. If the aid scheme includes a support measure for transmedia projects, do the aided activities directly relate to the film production component of the work?
1.4. Please indicate what provisions exist to guarantee the cultural objective of the aid: … … 2. Conditions for eligibility 2.1. Please indicate the conditions for eligibility of activities or works under the planned aid measure: … … 2.2. Please indicate the conditions for eligibility of beneficiaries under the planned aid measure:
3. Territorial spending obligations 3.1. Please indicate whether the measure includes provisions requiring the producer to spend the production budget, or parts of it, in the territory of the Member State or in one of its subdivisions: 3.1.1. In order to be eligible for aid?
3.1.2. As a condition attached to the granting of the aid?
3.2. Do the conditions of territorial spending apply to certain specific items of the production budget? … … 3.3. If it is necessary to comply with a minimum degree of territorial spending in order to be eligible for the aid, please describe the nature of the requirements: 3.3.1. Of implicit nature (e.g. a minimum number of days shooting the production in the territory): … … 3.3.2. Of explicit nature (e.g. a minimum amount or percentage of expenditure): … … 3.4. In case there are territorial conditions attached to the granting of the aid, please explain: 3.4.1. Is the aid calculated as a percentage of territorial expenditure? … … 3.4.2. Is the required territorial spending calculated with regard to the overall budget of the film? … … 3.4.3. Is the required territorial spending calculated with regard to the amount of aid granted? … … 4. Eligible costs Please specify the costs which may be taken into account to determine the amount of aid. … … 5. Aid intensity 5.1. Please indicate whether the scheme allows for aid intensities exceeding 50 % of the production budget? If so, please clarify the types of works concerned and the aid intensity limits set. … … 5.2. If the concept of “difficult audiovisual works” is used, please indicate the categories of works covered by this concept (that is to say, please indicate the definition used). … … 5.3. If scriptwriting or development is aided under the scheme: are the costs of scriptwriting and development included in the production budget and taken into account for calculating the aid intensity of the audiovisual work? … … 5.4. If distribution and promotion activities are supported under the scheme: what are the aid intensities allowed under the scheme? … … 6. Film heritage If applicable, please provide information on the measures taken with regard to film heritage. … … 7. Compatibility 7.1. Please provide a reasoned justification in support of compatibility of the aid in the light of the principles set out in the Commission Communication on State aid for films and other audiovisual works. … … 7.2. If the scheme concerns aid to cinemas, please provide a reasoned justification in support of the compatibility of the aid as aid to promote culture within the meaning of Article 107(3)(d) TFEU, in particular the necessity, adequacy and proportionality of the aid. … … 8. Other Information Please indicate here any other information you consider relevant to the assessment of the measure(s) concerned under the Communication on State aid for films and other audiovisual works. … PART III.5 Supplementary Information Sheet on State aid to broadband This supplementary information sheet should be used for notifications of aid covered by the EU Guidelines for the application of State aid rules in relation to rapid deployment of broadband networks (103) (“Broadband Guidelines”). 1. Characteristics of the notified aid measure 1.1. Please describe the objective of the aid measure: … … 1.2. Please explain how the aid measure fits with the national broadband strategy and the Union objectives (including for the EU 2020 strategy and the Digital Agenda (104)). … … 1.3. Please present the rationale for public intervention and explain the anticipated benefits of the aid measure (e.g. economic and social benefits, increased broadband coverage and internet penetration rates, etc.). … … 1.4. What category of network does the aid measure aim to support?
1.5. What elements of the network does the aid measure aim to support?
1.6. What type of broadband networks does the aid measure aim to support?
1.7. What types of areas are targeted by the aid measure? Classify targeted areas with respect to the different segment and type of network supported and substantiate the classification on the basis of verifiable data.
1.8. Please provide any other relevant information useful to clarify the general context of the aid measure: … … 1.9. What type of investment and business model will be adopted (107)? … … 2. Process and granting of the aid measure Mapping, coverage analysis 2.1. What is the scope of the aid measure in terms of territorial coverage? 2.2. Please provide information, including the date, and submit the results of the detailed mapping and coverage analysis undertaken to clearly identify the target areas: … … Public consultation 2.3. Please describe the process and the results of the open transparent public consultation giving the opportunity to all interested stakeholders to comment on the planned aid measure. Please submit the relevant internet links on which the information about the measure has been published: … … Competitive selection procedure 2.4. In case of deployment and/or operation of the subsidised network by a third-party operator, please confirm that a competitive selection procedure will be conducted in line with the EU Public Procurement Directives (108). Please provide all relevant information in that respect: … … 2.5. Please provide information on how the most economically advantageous offer is to be selected (including the award criteria and the relative weighting which is given to each of the criteria chosen) taking into account qualitative criteria (for instance, coverage, sustainability of the technological approach or the impact of the solution on competition) and price: … … 2.6. Are there are any minimum service requirements that the subsidised network has to comply with (such as minimum bandwidth, sustained services, minimum geographical coverage, etc.)?
2.7. If yes, please describe: … … Technological neutrality 2.8. Is the aid measure technologically neutral?
2.9. If the answer to point 2.8 is yes, please describe how that principle is ensured: … … Use of existing infrastructure 2.10. Please submit a map depicting the existing infrastructures in place in the country or region concerned, including also any new infrastructure(s) planned by commercial operators in the near future, that is to say within a three year period: … … 2.11. Please explain how it is ensured that the operators wishing to participate in the selection procedure provide all relevant information on any existing infrastructure they own or control in the target area: … … Wholesale access 2.12. Please explain what type of “wholesale access” obligations will be imposed on the subsidised network (including access to passive and active infrastructure, the right to use ducts and poles, dark fibre and street cabinets), and how long the access obligations will be maintained: … … Wholesale access pricing 2.13. Please explain how access prices will be benchmarked: … … Claw-back and monitoring mechanism 2.14. Will a claw-back mechanism apply to the aid measure?
2.15. If the answer to point 2.14 is yes, please describe this mechanism, its characteristics and duration: … … 2.16. Please explain how the monitoring of the aid measure will be organised:
National regulatory authority (“NRA”) 2.17. Please describe the role of the NRA in particular regarding: identification of target areas, wholesale access pricing including benchmarking, dispute resolution, etc.: … … 2.18. Please report the position of the NRA on the proposed aid intervention and, where available, the opinion of the national competition authority: … … 3. Compatibility criteria Please explain how the notified aid measure complies with the conditions specified in Section 2.5 of the Broadband Guidelines, in particular with regard to: … … Objective of common interest
Market failure
Appropriate instrument
Incentive effect
Step Change
Proportionality
Distortion of competition and effect on trade
4. Other information Please indicate here any other information you consider relevant to the assessment of the measure concerned under the Broadband Guidelines or any other information that is relevant from the point of view of Union competition and internal market rules (110). … PART III.6 Supplementary information sheet for State aid for environmental protection and energy This supplementary information sheet must be used for the notification of any aid covered by the Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy 2014–2020 (hereinafter “the EEAG”) (111). All documents provided by Member States as annexes to the notification form must be numbered and document numbers must be indicated in the relevant sections of this supplementary information sheet. If there are several beneficiaries involved in an individual aid measure, the relevant information must be provided for each of them. This supplementary information form is to be filled in in addition to the “Part I. General information” form. Scope General Block Exemption Regulation Before completing this notification form you should consider whether this measure could be implemented under Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 (the General Block Exemption Regulation (“the GBER”) (112), and in particular section 7 of chapter III thereof (Aid for environmental protection). Could the aid be implemented under the GBER?
If the aid could be implemented under the GBER, please explain why the measure is notified. … … De minimis Regulation Before completing this notification form you should consider whether this measure could be implemented under the de minimis Regulation (113): Could the aid be implemented under the de minimis Regulation?
If the aid could be implemented under the de minimis Regulation, please explain why the measure is notified. … … This form should only be completed for notification of State aid which is intended to be implemented under the EEAG. Please fill in the relevant parts of the notification form corresponding to the character of the notified measure. Section A: General information on environmental and energy aid measures
Section B: General compatibility assessment 1. Contribution to an objective of common interest To answer the questions in this section, please refer to section 3.2.1 of the EEAG and where further specified to sections 3.2 – 3.6 and 3.8 – 3.10 of the EEAG. State aid schemes
Individually notifiable aid — additional information
2. Need for State Aid To answer the questions in this section, please refer to section 3.2.2 of the EEAG and where further specified to sections 3.2 – 3.6 and 3.8 – 3.10 of the EEAG. State aid schemes
Individually notifiable aid — additional information
3. Appropriateness of the aid To answer the questions in this section, please refer to section 3.2.3 of the EEAG and where further specified to sections 3.2 – 3.6 and 3.8 – 3.10 of the EEAG.
4. Incentive effect To answer the questions in this section, please refer to section 3.2.4 of the EEAG and where further specified to sections 3.2 – 3.6 and 3.8 – 3.10 of the EEAG. State aid schemes
Individually notifiable aid — additional information
5. Proportionality To answer the questions in this section, please refer to section 3.2.5 of the EEAG and sections 3.2 – 3.6 and 3.8 – 3.10 of the EEAG. If the measure concerns investment aid only, please fill in the first part of this section. If the aid is operational aid, please fill in the second part of this section. If the measure consists of both investment and operating aid both sections should be completed. 5.1. State aid schemes 5.1.1. Investment aid schemes The aid amount per beneficiary should be limited to the minimum required to achieve the level of environmental protection or energy objective aimed for. As a general principle aid will be deemed limited to the minimum necessary if the aid corresponds to the total net extra cost necessary to meet the objective compared to the counterfactual scenario (see section 3.2.5 of the EEAG, point (70). For aid to energy efficient district heating and cooling projects, this section is only applicable to the production plant. For the infrastructure part the funding gap approach for energy infrastructure should be used (see section 5.1.2 operating aid schemes) (point 76 of the EEAG). 5.1.1.1. Eligible costs (120): please provide the details of the eligible costs as appropriate.
5.1.1.2. Aid intensity and bonuses The aid intensities which are allowed for the different measures can be found in Annex 1 to the EEAG.
5.1.1.3. Cumulation (see Section 3.2.5.2 of the EEAG)
5.1.2. Operating aid schemes 5.1.2.1. Operating aid for energy from renewable sources
Biofuels
Cooperation agreements in the framework of the Renewable Energy Directive (130)
5.1.2.1.1. Operating aid for electricity from renewable sources (until plant depreciation)
In order to incentivise market integration it is important that beneficiaries sell their electricity in the market and are subject to market obligations (see points 124 and 125 of the EEAG).
In a transitional phase covering the years 2015 and 2016, aid for at least 5 % of the planned new electricity capacity from renewable energy sources should be granted in a competitive bidding process on the basis of clear, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria (See points 124 and 125 of the EEAG).
If the answer to this point is no, please fill in section 5.1.2.1.2: operating aid for energy from renewable sources other than electricity (until plant depreciation).
5.1.2.1.2. Operating aid for energy from renewable sources other than electricity (until plant depreciation)
5.1.2.1.3. Operating aid for existing biomass plants after plant depreciation. Operating aid for biomass after plant depreciation may be compatible with the internal market if a Member State demonstrates that the operating costs borne by the beneficiary after plant depreciation are still higher than the market price of the energy concerned (point 133 of the EEAG).
Operating aid for biomass after plant depreciation may be compatible with the internal market if a Member State demonstrates that, irrespective of the market price of the energy concerned, the use of fossil fuels as an input is more economically advantageous than the use of biomass (point 134 of the EEAG).
5.1.2.1.4. Operating aid granted by way of certificates.
5.1.2.2. Operating aid granted for high efficient Combined heat and Power (CHP) plants.
5.1.2.3. Operating aid granted for energy efficiency measures.
5.1.2.4. Operating aid granted for energy infrastructure and CCS.
5.1.2.5. Operating aid granted for generation adequacy.
5.1.2.6. Operating aid in tradable permits. See point 235 of the EEAG
5.2. Individually notifiable aid — additional information
6. Avoidance of negative effects To answer the questions in this section, please refer to section 3.2.6 of the EEAG and where further specified to sections 3.2 – 3.6 and 3.8 – 3.10 of the EEAG. 6.1. State aid schemes
For generation adequacy
6.2. Individually notifiable aid — additional information
7. Transparency To answer the questions in this section, please refer to section 3.2.7 of the EEAG and where further specified to sections 3.2 – 3.6 and 3.8 – 3.10 of the EEAG.
Section C: Compatibility assessment for aid in the form of reductions in or exemptions from environmental taxes and in the form of reductions in funding support for the energy from renewable sources To answer the questions in this section, please refer to section 3.2.7 of the EEAG in particular. Please complete section C1 for measures concerning reductions from environmental taxes and section C2, posibly combined with section C3, for measures concerning reductions in the funding of support for renewable energy sources. Please complete the section on Transparency in section B, point 7. Section C1: Aid in the form of reductions in or exemptions from environmental taxes (137)
Section C2: Aid in the form of reductions in funding support for energy from renewable sources
Eligibility
Proportionality
Section C3: Transitional rules for reductions in funding support for energy from renewable sources This section only applies if an adjustment plan was submitted to the Commission before 1 July 2015.
PART III.7 Supplementary Information Sheet on risk finance aid Please complete this supplementary information sheet, in addition to the “General information” form, for the notification of any aid scheme covered by the Guidelines on State aid to promote risk finance investments (“RFG”) (142). Please consult paragraph 52 RFG for definitions. 1. Scope 1.1. Reasons for notifying the scheme:
1.2. Scope of the notified scheme: Please tick as appropriate to confirm:
2. Description of the scheme 2.1. Budget of the scheme:
2.2. Duration of the scheme:
2.3. Target undertakings which are the final beneficiaries of the scheme: The ex-ante assessment (147) demonstrates the need for the following undertakings to be targeted by the scheme as final beneficiaries (paragraphs 63 – 79 RFG) (please provide details): … …
2.4. Financial instruments: the ex-ante assessment demonstrates a need for the following design parameters not complying with the GBER (paragraph 80 to 86 RFG):
2.5. Fiscal instruments: the ex-ante assessment demonstrates that the following design parameters which do not comply with the GBER are required:
2.6. Private investors participating in the measure with equity, loans or guarantees:
2.7. Financial intermediaries implementing the scheme: (See broad definition in paragraph 52 RFG; it also includes funds with and without legal personality)
2.8. Is any party involved in the scheme other than the public authority granting the aid, the target undertakings, the financial intermediaries implementing the scheme mentioned above, and the private investors involved therein?
2.9. Detailed description of the instrument(s):
2.9.1. Financial instruments Risk finance aid measures in the form of financial instruments have to be deployed through financial intermediaries (paragraph 20 RFG). Hence, those measures are composed of, at least, a State intervention for financial intermediaries, and risk finance investments by financial intermediaries into final beneficiary undertakings. 2.9.1.1. Intervention at the level of financial intermediaries A) State intervention at the level of financial intermediaries The State provides the following to financial intermediaries (Please tick and complete as applicable): ☐ EQUITY (INCLUDING QUASI-EQUITY) INJECTION BY THE STATE AT THE LEVEL OF THE FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
☐ FUNDED DEBT INSTRUMENTS: LOAN INSTRUMENTS (HEREAFTER “LOANS”) AT THE LEVEL OF FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
☐ UNFUNDED DEBT INSTRUMENTS: GUARANTEES BY THE STATE AT THE LEVEL OF FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES ON UNDERLYING TRANSACTIONS WITH FINAL BENEFICIARIES
☐ OTHER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS Please describe the financial instrument to be implemented with the measure and provide a detailed description of all elements contained in section 2.9.1.1 above in so far as they are applicable to the chosen financial instrument: … B) Intervention by financial intermediaries in further levels of financial intermediaries There may be situations (including fund of funds structures), whereby, for instance, the State provides equity, loans or guarantees to a financial intermediary, which, in turn, provides equity, loans or guarantees to a further financial intermediary, which eventually provides risk finance investments to final beneficiaries. In such cases where there is a second, or further levels of financial intermediaries involved in the scheme, please provide all relevant information required in section 2.9.1.1.A on Equity/Loans/Guarantees/Other financial instruments, as applicable, for each additional level of financial intermediary: … 2.9.1.2. Risk finance investment by financial intermediaries in final beneficiaries The risk finance investment in the final beneficiaries takes the following form (Please tick and complete as applicable): ☐ EQUITY (INCL. QUASI-EQUITY) INVESTMENT BY THE FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES IN FINAL BENEFICIARIES
☐ FUNDED DEBT INSTRUMENTS: LOANS BY FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES TO FINAL BENEFICIARIES
Please indicate the private participation ratio:… Please describe the risk and reward sharing between the public and the private investors: … In particular, if the public investor assumes the first loss, at what level is it capped? Capped at … %. (Please note that it is recommendable that such cap does not exceed 35 % (paragraph 113 RFG)) Where the public investor or lender assumes a first loss position exceeding the cap set out in the GBER (25 %), please justify this by reference to a severe market failure identified in the ex-ante assessment (paragraph 113 RFG) and please provide a summary for such justification:… If there are other risk-mitigation mechanisms for the benefit of the private investors/lenders, please explain:… ☐ UNFUNDED DEBT INSTRUMENTS: GUARANTEES BY FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES TO FINAL BENEFICIARIES:
☐ OTHER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS Please describe the financial instrument which the measure seeks to implement and provide a detailed description of all elements contained in section 2.9.1.2 above in so far as they are applicable to the chosen financial instrument: … … 2.9.2. Fiscal instruments: Please complete this entire section for each tax incentive:
Can the relief exceed the maximum income tax liability of the investor, as established prior to the fiscal measure?
If the measure provides for multiple forms of tax incentive, please fill in the set of questions in section 2.9.2 above for each form of aid. 2.9.3. Measures supporting alternative trading platforms:
Please provide, together with this notification:
Form of the measure:
3. Further information for the compatibility assessment of the aid scheme 3.1. Contribution to a common objective and need for State intervention (3.2 & 3.3 RFG) A risk finance aid scheme can only be justified if it is targeted at addressing a specific market failure, in the form of the existence of a funding gap affecting specific undertakings in a specific development stage, geographic area and, if applicable, economic sector. Please submit the in-depth ex-ante assessment that proves the specific market failure, together with this notification. 3.1.1. Information on the ex-ante assessment (paragraphs 65-66 RFG): Date of the ex-ante assessment:… The assessment has been carried out by:
Data on which the assessment is based: … Please tick to confirm that the ex-ante assessment is based on data covering 5 years preceding the notification: ☐ The risk finance scheme is financed partially from the European Stuctural and Investment Funds and the assessment was prepared in accordance with Article 37(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 (the Common Provisions Regulation) (148): ☐ 3.1.2. Identification in the ex-ante assessment of the specific policy objectives and performance indicators for the risk finance scheme (paragraphs 58–59 RFG): Please list the identified specific policy objectives and make reference to the relevant section in the ex-ante assessment: … … Please list the defined performance indicators (see examples in paragraph 58 RFG) and make reference to the relevant section in the ex-ante assessment: … … 3.1.3. Economic evidence and justification in the ex-ante assessment for the need for State intervention (section 3.3 RFG): see sections 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 of this form. 3.2. Appropriateness and incentive effect of the risk finance scheme (sections 3.4 & 3.5 RFG) 3.2.1. General:
3.2.2. Appropriateness conditions for financial instruments (section 3.4.2 RFG):
3.2.3. Appropriateness conditions for fiscal instruments (section 3.4.3 RFG): For the purposes of these requirements, the information you have provided under section 2.9.2 will be considered. Please indicate any further information you consider relevant with regard to the appropriateness conditions: … … 3.2.4. Appropriateness conditions for measures supporting alternative trading platforms (section 3.4.4 RFG): For the purposes of these requirements, the information you have provided under section 2.9.3 will be considered. Please indicate any further information you consider relevant with regard to the appropriateness conditions: … … 3.3. Proportionality of the aid (section 3.6 RFG) 3.3.1. Proportionality in relation to the identified market failure:
3.3.2. Proportionality conditions for financial instruments (section 3.6.1 RFG):
3.3.3. Proportionality conditions for fiscal instruments (section 3.6.2 RFG): For the purposes of these requirements, the information provided under section 2.9.2 will be considered. Please indicate any further information you consider relevant with regard to the proportionality conditions:… 3.3.4. Proportionality conditions for alternative trading platforms (section 3.6.3 RFG): For the purposes of these requirements, the information provided under section 2.9.3 will be considered. Please indicate any further information you consider relevant with regard to the proportionality conditions:… 3.4. Avoidance of undue negative effects on competition and trade (section 3.7 RFG)
4. Cumulation of the aid (section 3.9 RFG) Risk finance aid may be cumulated with other State aid measures without identifiable eligible costs, or with de minimis aid, up to the highest relevant total financing ceiling fixed in the specific circumstances of each case by a block exemption regulation or a decision adopted by the Commission (paragraph 168 RFG).
5. Other information Please indicate here any other information you consider relevant to the assessment of the measure(s) concerned under the RFG: … … PART III.8 Supplementary Information Sheet for the notification of an evaluation plan Member States must use this sheet for the notification of an evaluation plan pursuant to Article 1(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 (149) and in the case of a notified aid scheme subject to an evaluation as provided in the relevant Commission guidelines. Please refer to the Commission Staff Working Document “Common methodology for State aid evaluation” (150) for guidance on the drafting of an evaluation plan. 1. Identification of the aid scheme to be evaluated
2. Objectives of the aid scheme to be evaluated (151) 2.1. Please provide a description of the aid scheme specifying the needs and problems the scheme intends to address and the intended categories of beneficiaries, for example size, sectors, location, indicative number: … 2.2. Please indicate the objectives of the scheme and the expected impact, both at the level of the intended beneficiaries and as far as the objective of common interest is concerned: … 2.3. Please indicate possible negative effects, on the aid beneficiaries or on the wider economy, that might be directly or indirectly associated with the aid scheme (152): … 2.4. Please indicate (a) the annual budget planned under the scheme, (b) the intended duration of the scheme (153), (c) the aid instrument or instruments and (d) the eligible costs: … 2.5. Please provide a summary of the eligibility criteria and the methods for selecting the aid beneficiaries. In particular, please describe the following: (a) the methods used for selecting beneficiaries (e.g. such as scoring), (b) the indicative budget available for each group of beneficiaries, (c) the likelihood of the budget being exhausted for certain groups of beneficiaries, (d) the scoring rules, if they are used in the scheme, (e) the aid intensity thresholds and (f) the criteria the authority granting the aid will take into account when assessing applications: … 2.6. Please mention specific constraints or risks that might affect the implementation of the scheme, its expected impacts and the achievement of its objectives: … 3. Evaluation questions 3.1. Please indicate the specific questions that the evaluation should address by providing quantitative evidence of the impact of aid. Please distinguish between (a) questions related to the direct impact of the aid on the beneficiaries, (b) questions related to the indirect impacts and (c) questions related to the proportionality and appropriateness of the aid. Please explain how the evaluation questions relate to the objectives of the scheme: … 4. Result indicators 4.1. Please use the following table to describe which indicators will be built to measure outcomes of the scheme, as well as the relevant control variables, including the sources of data, and how each result indicator corresponds to the evaluation questions. In particular, please mention (a) the relevant evaluation question, (b) the indicator, (c) the source of data, (d) the frequency of collection of data (for example, annual, monthly, etc.), (e) the level at which the data is collected (for example, firm level, establishment level, regional level, etc.), (f) the population covered in the data source (for example, aid beneficiaries, non-beneficiaries, all firms, etc.):
Please explain why the chosen indicators are the most relevant for measuring the expected impact of the scheme: … 5. Envisaged methods to conduct the evaluation 5.1. In light of the evaluation questions, please describe the envisaged methods to be used in the evaluation to identify the causal impact of the aid on the beneficiaries and to assess other indirect impacts. In particular, please explain the reasons for choosing those methods and for rejecting other methods (for example, reasons related to the design of the scheme) (154): … 5.2. Please describe precisely the identification strategy for the evaluation of the causal impact of the aid and the assumptions on which the strategy relies. Please describe in detail the composition and the significance of the control group: … 5.3. Please explain how the envisaged methods address potential selection bias. Can it be claimed with sufficient certainty that observed differences in the outcomes for the aid beneficiaries are due to the aid? … 5.4. If relevant, please explain how the envisaged methods intend to address specific challenges related to complex schemes, for example schemes that are implemented in a differentiated manner at regional level and schemes that use several aid instruments: … 6. Data collection 6.1. Please provide information on the mechanisms and sources for collecting and processing data about the aid beneficiaries and about the envisaged counterfactual. (155) Please provide a description of all the relevant information that relates to the selection phase: data collected on aid applicants, data submitted by applicants and selection outcomes. Please also explain any potential issue as regards data availability: … 6.2. Please provide information on the frequency of the data collection relevant for the evaluation. Are observations available on a sufficiently disaggregated level, that is to say at the level of individual undertakings? … 6.3. Please indicate whether the access to the necessary data for conducting the evaluation might be hindered by laws and regulations governing confidentiality of data and how those issues would be addressed. Please mention other possible challenges related to data collection and how they would be overcome: … 6.4. Please indicate whether surveys of aid beneficiaries or of other undertakings are foreseen and whether complementary sources of information are intended to be used: … 7. Proposed timeline of the evaluation 7.1. Please indicate the proposed timeline of the evaluation, including milestones for data collection, interim reports and involvement of stakeholders. If relevant, please provide an annex detailing the proposed timeline: … 7.2. Please indicate the date by which the final evaluation report will be submitted to the Commission: … 7.3. Please mention factors that might affect the envisaged timeline: … 8. The body conducting the evaluation 8.1. Please provide specific information on the body conducting the evaluation or, if not yet selected, on the timeline, procedure and criteria for its selection: … 8.2. Please provide information on the independence of the body conducting the evaluation and on how possible conflict of interest will be excluded during the selection process: … 8.3. Please indicate the relevant experience and skills of the body conducting the evaluation or how those skills will be ensured during the selection process: … 8.4. Please indicate which arrangements the granting authority will make to manage and monitor the conduct of the evaluation: … 8.5. Please provide information, even if only of an indicative nature, on the necessary human and financial resources that will be made available for carrying out the evaluation: … 9. Publicity of the evaluation 9.1. Please provide information on the way the evaluation will be made public, that is to say, through the publication of the evaluation plan and the final evaluation report on a website: … 9.2. Please indicate how the involvement of stakeholders will be ensured. Please indicate whether the organisation of public consultations or events related to the evaluation is envisaged: … 9.3. Please specify how the evaluation results are intended to be used by the granting authority and other bodies, for example for the design of successors of the scheme or for similar schemes: … 9.4. Please indicate whether and under which conditions data collected for the purpose or used for the evaluation will be made accessible for further studies and analysis: … 9.5. Please indicate whether the evaluation plan contains confidential information that should not be disclosed by the Commission: … 10. Other information 10.1. Please indicate here any other information you consider relevant for the assessment of the evaluation plan: … 10.2. Please list all documents attached to the notification and provide paper copies or direct internet links to the documents concerned: …’ |
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Part III.13 is replaced by the following: ‘PART III.13.A Supplementary Information Sheet on investment aid to airports It is recommended that this supplementary information sheet be completed in addition to the “General information” form, for the notification of any investment aid covered by the Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (1). 1. Additional information on the beneficiary, investment project and aid 1.1. Beneficiary 1.1.1. Is the aid awarded directly to the owner of the airport?
1.1.2. If the answer to point 1.1.1 is no, please describe, if applicable, (i) the legal entity/-ies receiving the aid, and (ii) the legal entity/-ies transferring the aid to an intermediate entity or to the airport carrying out the investment project: … … 1.1.3. If the answer to point 1.1.1 is no, please explain how the national authorities ensure that that there is no advantage granted at the intermediary levels: … … 1.1.4. In the case of individual aid, please describe the legal, organisational and financial relationships between the recipient of the aid and (i) the undertakings with which it forms part of a group of undertakings; (ii) its subsidiaries; (iii) any other associated enterprises, including joint ventures. In the case of aid schemes, please describe the method by which the aid granting authority will assess the legal, organisational and financial relations enumerated above: … … 1.1.5. Please specify whether the beneficiary will also operate the infrastructure:
1.1.6. If the answer to the above question is no, please describe (i) the procedure by which the infrastructure operator will be chosen/respectively has been chosen, and (ii) selection criteria: … … 1.1.7. Where the airport or airports are used by the national armed forces, the police force, non-economic air rescue services, or any other air service of a non-economic nature, please specify (a) the nature of the service(s) and (b) the rate of airport capacity utilisation (e.g. use of the runway and other airport facilities, expressed as a percentage of annual aircraft movements): … … 1.1.8. Please provide the following passenger traffic data of the airport(s) receiving the aid:
Please provide the data in the form of a table, as follow:
Passenger numbers must be counted “one-way” and for each individual route; e.g. a passenger flying to the airport and back would be counted twice. If the airport is part of a group of airports, passenger traffic data must be established on the basis of each individual airport. 1.2. The investment project 1.2.1. Please describe the investment project and all underlying estimates, and provide the ex-ante business plan (in form of an excel table) on which the project is based. The business plan should cover the economic lifetime of the investment. All estimates should be based on sound demand forecasts. Please explain if, and to what extent, those estimates were taken into account in the beneficiary airport's business plan: … … 1.2.2. Please provide the following information on the investment project:
1.2.3. Please provide, in one single table, a detailed breakdown of all works to be undertaken, their source of financing, their scheduled duration, related cost items and planned date of entry into operation. Please indicate for each cost item whether and why it should be regarded as an investment cost (i) directly related to infrastructure of a non-economic nature within the public policy remit (e.g. for safety, air traffic control and any other activities for which a Member State is responsible as part of its official powers as a public authority), or (ii) related to aeronautical airport infrastructure of an economic nature (e.g. runway, ground handling infrastructure), or (iii) related to non-aeronautical infrastructure of an economic nature (e.g. parking, hotels):
1.2.4. Please provide an overview of (i) the total eligible investment costs (2) of an economic nature, and (ii) the total eligible costs of a non-economic nature. Costs must be discounted to their current value; the discount rate must be indicated. Please indicate in that overview which part of the notified aid will support investments belonging to category (i) and which to category (ii): … … 1.2.5. If investment costs related to non-aeronautical activities of an economic nature will also be financed through State aid, please explain on what basis the authorities consider such aid compatible with the internal market: … … 1.2.6. Did you or do you commit to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) for the investment? (point 20 of the Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines)?
If no, please explain why an EIA is not required for this project: … … 1.3. Activities of a non-economic nature falling within the public policy remit 1.3.1. Please confirm whether the investment covers activities that fall under the responsibility of the State in the exercise of its official powers as a public authority (e.g. traffic control, police, customs, firefighting, activities necessary to safeguard civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference). Investments relating to the infrastructure and equipment necessary to perform such activities are considered in general to be of a non-economic nature and thus do not fall within the scope of State aid rules. Please include relevant investments in the table provided in section 1.2.3:
1.3.2. Please provide the national, regional or any other legal instrument concerning the notion of activities falling within the public policy remit, and their financing. In the absence of any such legal instrument, please clarify how those activities are usually financed by the relevant authorities: … … 1.3.3. Please provide evidence showing that the public financing of non-economic activities does not lead to undue discrimination between airports. Discrimination arises in situations where, under the relevant legal order, civil airports normally have to bear certain costs inherent to their non-economic activities, whereas certain civil airports do not have to cover such costs. Please specify the material and territorial applicability of the national rules applicable to the financing of non-economic activities of airports and, if applicable, the level of regional competence in that matter: … … 1.3.4. Please confirm, supported by relevant evidence, that the compensation of costs incurred in relation to non-economic activities will be strictly limited to such costs, and that any cross-subsidisation of economic activities through such compensation is effectively excluded: … … 1.3.5. Please confirm that the airport will maintain separate cost accounts for economic and non-economic activities: … … 2. Compatibility assessment of the measure 2.1. Contribution to a well-defined objective of common interest 2.1.1. Does the investment aid:
Please specify how the investment aid contributes to each of the objective chosen. 2.1.2. Is the investment aimed at creating new airport capacity?
2.1.3. If the answer to the question in point 2.1.2 is “yes”, please demonstrate on the basis of the ex-ante business plan referred to in section 1.2 (The investment project) that the new infrastructure will, in the medium-term, meet the forecasted demand of the airlines, passengers and freight forwarders in the catchment area of the airport. 2.1.4. In the case of individual investment aid: is the beneficiary airport located in the same catchment area (3) as another airport that is not operating at or near full capacity?
If yes, please provide the following information: (a) size and shape of the catchment area; (b) the travelling distance and time between the beneficiary airport and airports in the same catchment area; (c) passenger traffic of other airports in the same catchment area over the 5 years preceding the year of notification; (d) the expected total demand and total capacity in the catchment area of the aided airport in at least the next 10 years, according to the business plan in the worst, base and best case scenarios: … … 2.1.5. In the case of aid schemes: Please (a) indicate the location and the catchment areas of eligible airports in the area of territorial applicability of the scheme; (b) the travelling distance and time between eligible airports and airports in the same catchment area; (c) the method and criteria the national authorities will use to define the size and shape of catchment areas and the capacity utilisation of airports in the same catchment area: … … 2.1.6. In the case of individual investment aid: If the answer to point 2.1.4 is “Yes”, please provide information identifying the likely effect of the investment on the use of existing infrastructure in the same catchment area. That information must demonstrate medium-term prospects for use, must be based on sound passenger and freight traffic forecasts, and must be incorporated in the beneficiary airport's ex-ante business plan: … … 2.1.7. In the case of individual investment aid: If the answer to point 2.1.4 is “Yes”, please provide traffic projections in terms of passenger numbers in the worst, base and best case scenarios and explain why, in your view, such projections justify investment aid for the creation of additional capacity or for maintaining existing capacity: … … 2.2. Need for State intervention 2.2.1. In case of individual investment aid: please explain, on the basis of the business plan of the airport, to what extent the airport's ability to cover its capital costs depends on the airport's size in terms of annual passenger traffic: … … 2.2.2. In case of individual investment aid: please explain why the airport could not obtain sufficient private financing: … … 2.2.3. In the case of aid schemes: Please confirm that the aid granting authority will verify the need for State intervention in each individual case on the basis of (i) the size of the airport (4); (ii) the airport's ability to attract private financing: … … 2.3. Appropriateness of the measure 2.3.1. Please demonstrate that the aid in question is appropriate to achieve the intended objective or resolve the problems which it is meant to address. In particular, please explain how the authorities have established that the same objective cannot be reached, and that the same problem cannot be resolved, with less distortive policy or aid instruments and that the aid in question is an appropriate policy instrument. For example, if the aid is granted in forms that provide a direct pecuniary advantage (5), please demonstrate why other potentially less distortive forms of aid such as repayable advances or forms of aid that are based on debt or equity instruments (6) are not appropriate: … … 2.4. Incentive effect of the aid 2.4.1. In the case of individual investment aid: please confirm that works on the notified individual investment started only after submission of the application for the aid to the granting authority. Please provide a copy of the aid application sent to the granting authority by the beneficiary and documentary evidence of the date of the start of works: … … 2.4.2. In the case of aid schemes: please confirm that works on eligible investment projects will start only after submission of the individual application for the aid to the granting authority: … … 2.4.3. In the case of individual investment aid: please describe the levels of intended activity in a scenario with aid and a counterfactual scenario without aid. Please provide supporting evidence, for example internal documentation relating to alternative activities considered by the beneficiary airport in its internal decision making: … … 2.4.4. In the case of individual investment aid: in the presence of a counterfactual scenario with alternative activities, please compare both scenarios to specify the additional activity that would only be undertaken with the aid (counterfactual analysis). In the case of individual investment aid: In the absence of a counterfactual scenario with alternative activities, please specify the capital cost funding gap established on the basis of the beneficiary airport's ex-ante business plan. The capital cost funding gap is the difference between the positive and negative cash flows, including investment costs into fixed capital assets over the lifetime of the investment in net present value terms: … … 2.4.5. In the case of aid schemes: please confirm (a) that the granting authority will award individual aid under the aid scheme only after it has verified that there is an incentive effect, by comparing the levels of intended activity with aid and without aid (counterfactual analysis) or, in the absence of alternative activities without aid, by establishing the capital cost funding gap on the basis of the beneficiary airport's ex-ante business plan (7); (b) describe all underlying input data, parameters and assumptions that the aid granting authority will assess for the purposes of the incentive effect analysis: … … 2.5. Proportionality of the aid 2.5.1. In the case of individual investment aid: in the presence of a counterfactual scenario with alternative activities, please (a) provide in the form of excel-tables the ex-ante business plans for the scenario with aid and the counterfactual scenario without aid; (b) on that basis specify the net extra costs, net of extra revenues, which result from undertaking the aided project or activity rather than the counterfactual project/activity; (c) explain all underlying input data, parameters and assumptions. The business plans should cover the period of the economic lifetime of the investments: … … 2.5.2. In the case of individual investment aid: in the absence of a counterfactual scenario with alternative activities, please (a) provide in the form of an excel-table the ex-ante business plan of the beneficiary airport; (b) indicate on that basis the capital costs funding gap which is the net present value of the difference between the positive and negative cash flows, including investment costs, over the economic lifetime of the investment; (c) explain all underlying input data, parameters and assumptions: … … 2.5.3. In the case of aid schemes: please commit (a) to investigate in each case the counterfactual scenario without aid, on the basis of ex-ante business plans; (b) to establish the extra costs, net of extra revenues, which result from undertaking the aided project or activity rather than the counterfactual project or activity in cases where a counterfactual scenario with alternative activities exists; (c) to establish the capital costs funding gap, which is the net present value of the difference between the positive and negative cash flows, including investment costs, over the economic lifetime of the investment, in cases where no alternative activities would have taken place. Please describe all underlying input data, parameters and assumptions that the aid granting authority will assess for the purposes of the investigations and analysis: … … 2.5.4. Aid intensity: Please indicate the maximum percentage of the eligible costs to be covered by investment aid (“aid intensity”); including any top-ups on the basic aid intensity: … … Where an aid scheme applies to airports of various sizes, please indicate the maximum aid intensity applicable to the following groups of airports:
2.6. Avoidance of negative effects on competition and trade 2.6.1. Please confirm that the airport, including all infrastructure and equipment for which investment aid is granted, will be open to all potential users and not be dedicated to one specific user: … … 2.6.2. Please specify the provisions made to ensure that airport capacity will be allocated to users on the basis of pertinent, objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria: … … 2.7. Notification of individual aid under an investment aid scheme 2.7.1. The following individual aid measures under the investment aid scheme must be notified pursuant to Article 108(3) TFEU:
PART III.13.B Supplementary Information Sheet on operating aid to airports It is recommended that this supplementary information sheet is completed, in addition to the “General information” form, for the notification of any individual operating aid covered by the Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (8). 1. Additional information on the beneficiary and its activities 1.1. Beneficiary 1.1.1. Is the aid awarded directly to the operator of the airport?
1.1.2. If the answer to point 1.1.1 is no, please describe, if applicable, (i) the legal entity/-ies receiving the aid, and (ii) the legal entity/-ies responsible for transferring the aid as intermediary/-ies to the airport providing the services eligible for the aid. … … 1.1.3. If the answer to point 1.1.1 is “no”, please explain how the authorities ensure that that there is no advantage granted at the intermediary levels. … … 1.1.4. Is the beneficiary of the aid also the owner of the airport?
1.1.5. If the answer to point 1.1.4 is “no”: please specify who is/will be the owner of the airport and describe the ownership structure. … … 1.1.6. In the case of individual aid, please describe the legal, organisational and financial relationships between the recipient of the aid and (i) the undertakings with which it forms part of a group of undertakings; (ii) its subsidiaries; (iii) any other associated enterprises, including joint ventures. In the case of aid schemes, please describe the method by which the aid granting authority will assess the legal, organisational and financial relationships referred to in points 1.1.1 to 1.1.5 above. … … 1.2. General information about the airport operator 1.2.1. Where the airport or the airports are used by the national armed forces, the police force, non-economic air rescue services, or any other air service of a non-economic nature, please specify (a) the nature of the service(s); and (b) the rate of airport capacity utilisation (e.g. use of the runway and other airport facilities, expressed as a percentage of annual aircraft movements). … … 1.2.2. Please provide the following passenger traffic data of the airport(s) receiving the aid:
1.2.3. In the case of individual operating aid: please provide the business plan that the beneficiary has implemented in the period 2009–2013, and that it intends to implement in the subsequent 10-year period until 4 April 2024. Please describe the assumptions underlying that 10-year period. The business plan must contain information on traffic and traffic forecasts; costs and cost forecasts; financial data and financial forecasts as regards the level of profitability and cash-flows (by reference to methodologies which are demonstrably used by the airport, e.g. using methods for evaluating the net present value of an investment (NPV), the internal rate of return (IRR), and the average return on capital employed (ROCE). The business plan must be provided in an excel format including explanations of all underlying formulas. In the case of aid schemes, please specify in detail (a) the formal and material criteria to which business plans of eligible airports must conform; (b) the method the national authorities will use to assess the business plans. … … 1.2.4. In the case of individual operating aid, please provide a summary overview of operating losses (9) the beneficiary incurred in the period 2009–2013, as well as of forecasted operating losses in the period until 4 April 2024. Please provide the data in the form of a table, structured as follows:
In the case of aid schemes, please specify the method the authorities will use to establish the operating losses of eligible airports. 1.2.5. In the case of individual operating aid, please provide copies of the eligible airports' financial reports (10) for the 5 years preceding the year of application for operating aid. In the case of aid schemes, please commit to include the above described financial reports in the assessment of individual aid. … … 1.2.6. Please specify the provisions made to avoid overcompensation and recover excess amounts from the beneficiary. … … 1.3. Airport service activities 1.3.1. Please specify the eligible airport services (11) and the categories of eligible operating costs (12) in respect of the provision of those services. … … 1.4. Activities falling within the public policy remit 1.4.1. Does the operating aid cover activities that fall under State responsibility in the exercise of its official powers as a public authority (e.g. air traffic control, police, customs, firefighting, activities necessary to safeguard civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference)? Operating costs relating to the infrastructure and equipment necessary to perform such activities are considered in general to be of a non-economic nature and thus do not fall within the scope of State aid rules.
1.4.2. Please provide the relevant national, regional or any other legal instrument concerning the notion of activities falling within the public policy remit and their financing. In absence of any such legal instrument, please clarify how those activities are usually financed by the relevant authorities. … … 1.4.3. Please provide evidence showing that the public financing of non-economic activities does not lead to undue discrimination between airports. Discrimination arises in situations where, under the relevant legal order, civil airports normally have to bear certain costs inherent to their non-economic activities, whereas certain civil airports do not have to cover such costs. Please specify the material and territorial applicability of the national rules applicable to the financing of non-economic activities of airports and, if applicable, the level of regional competences in that matter. … … 1.4.4. Please confirm, supported by relevant evidence, that the compensation of costs incurred in relation to non-economic activities will be strictly limited to such costs, and that any cross-subsidisation of economic activities through such compensation is effectively excluded. … … 1.4.5. Please confirm that the airport will maintain separate cost accounts for economic and non-economic activities. … … 2. Compatibility assessment of the measure 2.1. Was the aid granted before 4 April 2014?
2.2. Contribution to a well-defined objective of common interest 2.2.1. Does the operating aid:
Please specify how the operating aid contributes to the objective(s) chosen. … … 2.2.2. Does the notified measure concern the operator of a new airport?
2.2.3. In the case of individual operating aid: Is the beneficiary airport located in the same catchment area (13) of another airport with spare capacity?
2.2.4. In the case of individual operating aid: If the answer to point 2.2.3 is yes, please specify the size and shape of the catchment area. Please provide information, identifying the likely effect on the traffic of the other airport located in that catchment area. That information should be part of the beneficiary airport's business plan and should be based on sound passenger and freight traffic forecasts. In the case of aid schemes: Please (a) confirm that the authorities are committed to assess the likely effect on the traffic of any other airport(s) located in the same catchment area as an eligible airport on the basis of information that is part of the beneficiary airport's business plan and is based on sound passenger and freight traffic forecasts; (b) explain the method and the criteria the national authorities will use to assess the likely effect on the traffic of that other airport or those other airports. … … 2.3. Need for State intervention 2.3.1. Please confirm that the annual traffic of the airport/eligible airports does not exceed 3 million passengers (see also question 1.2.2 above). … 2.4. Appropriateness of the measure 2.4.1. Please demonstrate that the aid in question is appropriate to achieve the intended objective or resolve the problems which it intendeds to address. In particular, please explain how the authorities have established that the same objective cannot be reached, or the same problem cannot be resolved, through less distortive policy or aid instruments. For example, if the aid is granted in forms that provide a direct pecuniary advantage (14), please demonstrate why other potentially less distortive forms of aid such as repayable advances or forms of aid that are based on debt or equity instruments (15) are not appropriate: … … 2.4.2. In the case of individual operating aid: Has the aid amount been established ex-ante as a fixed sum covering the expected operating funding gap determined on the basis of the business plan of the beneficiary, during a 10-year transitional period starting on 4 April 2014?
If yes, please provide relevant information in the business plan. 2.4.3. In the case of aid schemes: will the aid amount in each individual case be established ex-ante as a fixed sum covering the expected operating funding gap determined on the basis of the business plan of the beneficiary, during a 10-year transitional period starting on 4 April 2014?
If yes, the beneficiary should provide relevant information in the business plan. 2.4.4. If the answer to points 2.4.2 and 2.4.3 is “no”, please specify: (a) the degree of uncertainty of cost and revenue forecasts, (b) any information asymmetries that prevent the national authorities from calculating the aid amount ex ante on the basis of a business plan. … … 2.4.5. If the answer to points 2.4.2 and 2.4.3 is “no”, please confirm that the maximum amount of compatible operating aid was/will be established according to a model based on the average of the operating funding gaps (16) during the five years from 2009 to 2013. 2.4.6. Please confirm that the amount of operating aid will not be increased ex-post.
2.4.7. If the answer to the above question is “no”, please explain why in your opinion the possibility of an ex-post increase would not reduce incentives to manage the airport efficiently. … … 2.5. Incentive effect and proportionality of the aid 2.5.1. In the case of individual operating aid, please describe why there is the likelihood that in the absence of the aid the level of economic activity of the airport concerned would be significantly reduced. Please provide the necessary information on the basis of the business plan (see also point 1.2.3), comparing the levels of intended activity with aid and without aid (the counterfactual scenario), and taking into account the possible presence of investment aid and level of traffic. In the case of aid schemes, please describe the method applied by the aid granting authority in order to assess the business plans as well as the likelihood that in the absence of aid the level of economic activity of the airport concerned would be significantly reduced, taking into account the possible presence of investment aid and level of traffic. … … 2.5.2. In the case of individual operating aid, please demonstrate that the business plan of the airport will result in full operating cost coverage by 4 April 2024. Please specify the relevant key parameters of the business plan. In the case of aid schemes, please confirm that the aid granting authority will grant individual operating aid only if it has concluded that the business plan of the beneficiary airport will result in full operating cost coverage by 4 April 2024. Please specify which key parameters of the business plan the aid granting authorities will assess in order to reach that conclusion in each case. … … 2.5.3. Please indicate: In the case of individual operating aid: The beneficiary airport's initial funding gap over 10 years, starting with the operating cost coverage on 4 April 2014 at the beginning of the transition period and reaching full operating cost coverage achievement by 4 April 2024, at the end of the transition period. In the case of aid schemes: please commit (a) that the funding gap of eligible airports will be established using the method referred to in point 2.5.2; (b) that eligible airports must demonstrate that they will achieve full operating cost coverage by 4 April 2024. … … The maximum permissible aid amount: … … The percentage of the funding gap to be covered by the operating aid: … … The period during which operating aid will be granted: … … 2.6. Avoidance of negative effects on competition and trade 2.6.1. Please demonstrate that all airports located in the same catchment area as the eligible airport or airports will be able to achieve full operating cost coverage by 4 April 2024. … … 2.6.2. Please confirm that the airport or airports, including any investment for which aid is granted, will be open to all potential users and not be dedicated to one specific user.
2.6.3. Please specify the provisions made to ensure that airport capacity will be allocated to users on the basis of pertinent, objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria. … … PART III.13.C Supplementary Information Sheet on start-up aid to airlines It is recommended that this supplementary information sheet is completed, in addition to the “General information” form in Part I, for the notification of any start-up aid covered by the Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (17). This form applies both to the notification of aid schemes and individual aid. 1. Additional information on the beneficiary, project and aid 1.1. Beneficiary 1.1.1. Is the aid awarded directly to the airline operating the new route?
1.1.2. If the answer to point 1.1.1 is “no”: please describe, if applicable, the legal entity or entities (a) receiving the aid; (b) transferring the aid to an intermediate entity or to the airline that operates the new route. … … 1.1.3. If the answer to point 1.1.1 is “no”, please explain how the authorities ensure that the intermediary levels receive no advantage. … … 1.1.4. In the case of individual aid, please describe the legal, organisational and financial relationships between the recipient of the aid and (a) the undertakings with which it forms part of a group of undertakings; (b) its subsidiaries; (c) any other associated enterprises, including joint ventures. In the case of aid schemes, please describe the method by which the aid granting authority will assess those legal, organisational and financial relationships: … … 1.1.5. Selection of the beneficiary: Please describe (a) the procedure by which the beneficiary will be chosen or has been chosen; (b) the medium and level of publicity of the selection procedure; (c) eligibility conditions; (d) operational requirements; (e) selection criteria. … … 2. Compatibility assessment of the measure 2.1. Contribution to a well-defined objective of common interest 2.1.1. Does the start-up aid:
Please explain how the aid contributes to the objective chosen. … … 2.1.2. In the case of individual aid, please demonstrate that the route or routes to be covered is or are not already covered by a high-speed rail service (18) or from another airport in the same catchment area (19) under comparable conditions. If conditions are considered not to be comparable, please explain why. In the case of aid schemes, please explain how the aid granting authority will ensure that the condition in this point is met in each individual case of start-up aid. … 2.2. Need for State intervention 2.2.1. Please indicate whether the start-up aid concerns:
2.2.2. In the case of individual aid, please indicate the location of the airports linked by eligible new routes. … … 2.2.3. In the case of individual aid where the start-up aid is for routes linking an airport not located in a remote region to another airport, please provide the following passenger traffic data of the airports linked by the new route(s):
Please provide the data in the form of a table, as follows:
Passenger numbers must be counted “one-way” and for each individual route; e.g. passengers flying to the airport and back have to be counted twice. If an airport is part of a group of airports, passenger traffic data must be established on the basis of the individual airport. 2.2.4. In the case of aid schemes, please explain how the aid granting authority will assess on the basis of airport location, passenger traffic data and routes whether there is a need for State intervention in each individual case of start-up aid. … … 2.3. Appropriateness of the measure 2.3.1. In the case of individual aid: please demonstrate that the aid in question is appropriate to achieve the intended objective or resolve the problems it intends to address. In particular, please explain how the authorities have established that the same objective cannot be reached and the same problem cannot be resolved, with less distortive policy or aid instruments. For example, if the aid is granted in forms that provide a direct pecuniary advantage (22), please demonstrate that other potentially less distortive forms of aid such as repayable advances or forms of aid that are based on debt or equity instruments (22) are not appropriate. … … 2.3.2. In the case of individual aid where the beneficiary airline has prepared a business plan ex-ante for the route receiving the aid: please provide that business plan. That business plan must indicate whether that route has prospects of becoming profitable for the airline without public funding after 3 years. … … 2.3.3. In the case of individual aid in the absence of an ex-ante business plan for the route receiving the aid: please provide a document showing that the airline in question is irrevocably commited to operate the route for a period which is at least equal to the period during which it received start-up aid. … … 2.3.4. In the case of aid schemes, please explain how the aid granting authority will assess whether the measure is appropriate in each individual case of start-up aid. … … 2.4. Incentive effect and proportionality of the measure 2.4.1. In the case of individual aid, please explain why, if available on the basis of a business plan, there is the likelihood that in the absence of aid the level of economic activity of the airline at the airport concerned would not be expanded. … In the case of aid schemes, please describe the method applied by the aid granting authority in order to assess the likelihood that in the absence of aid the level of economic activity of the airline at the airport concerned would not be expanded. … … 2.4.2. In the case of individual aid, please confirm that the new route will start/started operating only after the application for aid was submitted to the granting authority and provide: (a) a copy of the aid application sent to the granting authority by the beneficiary; (b) documentary evidence of the start date of operations on the new route. In the case of aid schemes, please confirm that eligible new routes will start operating only after the application for aid was submitted to the granting authority. … 2.4.3. Please confirm that the aid will be granted for each route for a maximum period of three years. … … 2.4.4. Please specify the aid intensity, which is the total aid amount expressed as a percentage of eligible costs (23). Both figures must be expressed in net present value terms at the moment the aid is granted and before any deduction of tax or other charges. … … 2.4.5. Please specify the provisions made to avoid overcompensation and recover excess amounts of aid from the beneficiary airline. … … 2.4.6. Please specify the measures taken to avoid cross-subsidisation of other routes of the beneficiary airline to and from the airport or airports in question. … … 2.5. Avoidance of undue negative effects on competition and trade 2.5.1. In the case of individual aid: please confirm that the connection (for example, city-pair) to be operated by the new air route is not already operated by a high-speed rail service or by another airport in the same catchment area under comparable conditions, notably in terms of length of journey. Please see also point 2.1.2. In the case of aid schemes: Please explain how the aid granting authority will ensure that the condition in this point is satisfied in each individual case of start-up aid. … … 2.5.2. Please provide evidence that in planning to grant start-up aid to an airline for the new route, whether or not via an airport, the public authority's plans were made or will be made public in good time and with adequate publicity, to enable all interested airlines to offer their services. … … 2.5.3. Please confirm that the start-up aid in question cannot be combined with any other type of State aid granted for the operation of the same route. … … PART III.13.D Supplementary Information Sheet on aid of a social character under Article 107(2)(a) of the Treaty, for air transport services It is recommended that this supplementary information sheet is completed, in addition to the “General information” form in Part I, for the notification of any social aid provision covered by the Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (24). 1. Information on the beneficiary or beneficiaries, the project and the aid 1.1. Please explain the social objective(s) of the notified measure and why you considered that the measure achieves that objective or those objectives. … … 1.2. Details on the aid envisaged 1.2.1. Please describe (a) the method of awarding and distributing the aid to final consumers; (b) where applicable, please describe the legal entity or entities receiving the aid or transferring the aid to an intermediate entity responsible of distributing it to eligible final consumers. … … 1.2.2. Please describe the categories of eligible final consumers, for instance passengers with particular needs like children, people with disabilities, people on low incomes, students and elderly people, etc. (25). … … 1.2.3. Please confirm that the aid will effectively benefit eligible final consumers. … … 1.2.4. Please describe the routes eligible for aid. … … 1.2.5. Will the aid be granted for passenger transport on a route or on routes linking an airport or airports in a remote region (26) with another airport or other airports within the European Economic Area?
1.2.6. If the answer to point 1.2.5 is “yes”, please describe the eligible geographic areas and routes. … … 1.2.7. Please specify the costs which are to be compensated by the aid and confirm that eligible costs are limited to the price of a return ticket, including all taxes and charges, invoiced by the carrier to the eligible final consumer. … … 1.2.8. Please confirm that the aid will be granted without discrimination between distribution channels, such as travel agencies, airline ground services and websites. ☐ 1.2.9. Please describe (a) the procedure by which the air service operator(s) will be selected, has been or have been selected; (b) eligibility conditions and (c) the selection criteria. … … 1.2.10. Please confirm that the aid will be granted without discrimination as to the origin of the services, that is to say irrespective of the airline operating the services. ☐ 1.2.11. Please describe the controls and safeguards in force to ensure that the scheme is only used by eligible final consumers and that there is no overcompensation. … … PART III.13.E Supplementary Information Sheet on aid for maritime transport It is recommended that this supplementary information sheet is completed, in addition to the “General information” form in Part I, for the notification of any measure covered by the the Community guidelines on State aid to maritime transport (27) (“the Guidelines”). 1. Information on the type of scheme Does the scheme constitute or include:
2. Information on eligibility For categories (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) under point 1, please reply to 2.2 to 2.7:
For category (g) under point 1:
For category (h) under point 1:
3. Information on aid intensity 3.1. What mechanisms are in place to ensure the respect of the aid ceiling specified in Chapter 11 of the Guidelines? How are the relevant records kept? … … For category (a) under point 1, please reply to 3.2 to 3.7:
For categories (b) (c) and (d) under point 1, please reply to 3.8 to 3.10:
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(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 of 21 April 2004 implementing Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1589 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (OJ L 140, 30.4.2004, p. 1).
(2) NACE Rev. 2, or subsequent legislation amending or replacing it; NACE is the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Union as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE Revision 2 and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC Regulations on specific statistical domains (OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1).
(3) Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36).
(4) In the case of partner and linked enterprises, please note that the amounts reported for the aid beneficiary should take into account the number of employees and the financial data of the linked enterprises and/or partner enterprises.
(5) As defined in the Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty (OJ C 249, 31.7.2014, p. 1).
(6) Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 June 2015 on the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the European Investment Advisory Hub and the European Investment Project Portal and amending Regulations (EU) No 1291/2013 and (EU) No 1316/2013 — the European Fund for Strategic Investments (OJ L 169, 1.7.2015, p. 1).
(7) Commission's registration number of the authorised or block-exempted scheme.
(8) According to Article 1(e) of Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1589 of 13 July 2015 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (OJ L 248, 24.9.2015, p. 9), individual aid means aid that is not awarded on the basis of an aid scheme and notifiable award of aid on the basis of a scheme.
(9) The date of the legally binding commitment to award the aid.
(10) In the case of aid to the agriculture sector or fishery and aquaculture sector information on compliance with the common assessment principles is requested in Parts III.12 (Supplementary information sheet for aid to the agriculture and forestry sectors and in rural areas sector) and III.14 (Supplementary information sheet for aid to the fishery and aquaculture sector).
(11) A secondary objective is one for which, in addition to the primary objective, the aid will be exclusively earmarked. For example, a scheme for which the primary objective is research and development may have as a secondary objective small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) if the aid is earmarked exclusively for SMEs. The secondary objective may also be sectorial, in the case for example of a research and development scheme in the steel sector.
(12) Communication from the Commission amending the Communications from the Commission on EU Guidelines for the application of State aid rules in relation to the rapid deployment of broadband networks, on Guidelines on regional State aid for 2014–2020, on State aid for films and other audiovisual works, on Guidelines on State aid to promote risk finance investments and on Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (OJ C 198, 27.6.2014, p. 30).
(13) Grant/Interest rate subsidy, Loan/Repayable advances/Reimbursable grant, Guarantee, Tax advantage or tax exemption, Risk finance, Other (please specify). If the aid is granted through multiple aid instruments, the aid amount must be provided by instrument.
(14) Such a requirement can be waived with respect to individual aid awards below EUR 500 000. For schemes in the form of tax advantages, the information on individual aid can be provided in the following ranges (in EUR million): [0.5-1]; [1-2];[2-5]; [5-10]; [10-30]; [30 and more].
(15) Overall amount of aid planned, expressed in full national currency amounts. For tax measures, estimated overall revenue loss due to tax concessions. If the average annual State aid budget of the scheme exceeds EUR 150 million, please fill in the section on evaluation.
(16) For information on aid amounts or budget at any chapter of this form and supplementary forms, give the full amount in national currency.
(17) In case of an average annual State aid budget of the scheme above EUR 150 million, please fill in the section on Evaluation of this notification form. The Evaluation requirement does not apply to aid schemes covered by the Supplementary information sheet on Agriculture aid.
(18) Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid (OJ L 352, 24.12.2013, p. 1) and Commission Regulation (EU) No 717/2014 of 27 June 2014 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid in the fishery and aquaculture sector (OJ L 190, 28.6.2014, p. 45).
(19) Union funding centrally managed by the Commission that is not directly or indirectly under the control of the Member State does not constitute State aid. Where such Union funding is combined with other public funding, only the latter will be considered for determining whether notification thresholds and maximum aid intensities are respected, provided that the total amount of public funding granted in relation to the same eligible costs does not exceed the maximum funding rates laid down in the applicable Union legislation.
(20) The Evaluation requirement does not apply to aid schemes covered by the Supplementary information sheet on Agriculture aid.
(21) For guidance, see the Commission Staff Working Document “Common methodology for State aid evaluation”, SWD(2014)179 final of 28.5.2014 under http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/modernisation/state_aid_evaluation_methodology_en.pdf.
(22) Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1589 of 13 July 2015 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (OJ L 248, 24.9.2015, p. 9).
(23) For guidance see Article 339 TFEU that refers to “information about undertakings, their business relations or their cost components”. The Union courts have generally defined “business secrets” as information “of which not only disclosure to the public but also mere transmission to a person other than the one that provided the information may seriously harm the latter's interest” in Case T-353/94 Postbank v Commission ECLI:EU:T:1996:119, paragraph 87'.
(24) Communication from the Commission to the Member States on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to short-term export-credit insurance (OJ C 392, 19.12.2012, p. 1).
(25) Guidelines on certain State aid measures in the context of the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme post 2012 (OJ C 158, 5.6.2012, p. 4).
(26) Communication from the Commission on the application, from 1 August 2013, of State aid rules to support measures in favour of banks in the context of the financial crisis (OJ C 216, 30.7.2013, p. 1).
(27) Communication from the Commission — Criteria for the analysis of the compatibility with the internal market of State aid to promote the execution of important projects of common European interest (OJ C 188, 20.6.2014, p. 4).
(28) Communication from the Commission on the application of the European Union State aid rules to compensation granted for the provision of services of general economic interest (OJ C 8, 11.1.2012, p. 4).
(1) Guidelines on regional State aid for 2014-2020 (OJ C 209, 23.7.2013, p. 1).
(2) “The same or a similar activity” means an activity falling under the same class (four-digit numerical code) of the NACE Rev. 2 statistical classification of economic activities.
(3) As defined in the Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty, (OJ C 249, 31.7.2014, p. 1).
(5) As defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 723/2009 of 25 June 2009 on the Community legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) (OJ L 206, 8.8.2009, p. 1).
(6) “SMEs” means undertakings that fulfil the conditions laid down in the Commission recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36).
(7) The sole acquisition of the shares of an undertaking does not qualify as initial investment.
(8) “The same or a similar activity” means an activity falling under the same class (four-digit numerical code) of the NACE Rev. 2 statistical classification of economic activities.
(*1) In national currency (see also point 2.5 below)
(29) In the transport sector, expenditure on the purchase of transport equipment cannot be included in the uniform set of items of expenditure. Such expenditure is not eligible for initial investment.
(9) Paragraph 94 RAG does not apply to SMEs or in the case of the acquisition of an establishment.
(10) Paragraph 101 RAG provides that intangible assets which are eligible for the calculation of the investments costs must remain associated with the assisted area concerned and must not be transferred to other regions. To that end, the intangible assets must fulfil the following conditions:
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they must be used exclusively in the establishment receiving the aid: |
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they must be amortisable; |
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they must be purchased under market conditions from third parties unrelated to the buyer. |
Paragraph 102 RAG provides that the intangible assets must be included in the assets of the undertaking receiving the aid and must remain associated with the project for which the aid is awarded for at least five years (three years for small and medium enterprises).
(*2) In national currency
(30) In the transport sector, expenditure on the purchase of transport equipment cannot be included in the uniform set of items of expenditure. Such expenditure is not eligible for initial investment.
(11) For the methodology, refer to Commission notice on current State aid recovery interest rates and reference/discount rates for 25 Member States applicable as from 1 January 2007 (OJ C 317, 23.12.2006, p. 2) and the Communication from the Commission on the revision of the method for setting the reference and discount rates (OJ C 14, 19.1.2008, p. 6).
(*3) In national currency
(12) The aid amount(s) and eligible costs should be provided both in nominal and discounted values.
(*4) In national currency
(13) In order to do so, you could, for example, refer to the criteria enumerated in paragraph 40 RAG and/or to the business plan of the beneficiary.
(14) This question does not apply to subsidised loans, public equity-capital loans or public participations which do not meet the market investor principle, State guarantees containing elements of aid, or public support granted within the scope of de minimis rule.
(15) For example, direct grants, exemptions or reductions in taxes, social security or other compulsory charges, or the supply of land, goods or services at favourable prices, etc.
(16) For example, low-interest loans or interest rebates, state guarantees, the purchase of a shareholding or an alternative provision of capital on favourable terms.
(17) The time period considered for the calculation of the IRR should correspond to timeframes usually considered by the industry for similar projects.
(18) All relevant costs and benefits must be taken into account, including for example administrative costs, transport costs, training costs not covered by training aid and also wage differences. However, where the alternative location is in the EEA, subsidies granted in that other location are not to be taken into account.
(19) Details of all classifications are available in the Eurostat classifications database, currently under the link http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/classifications.
(20) Underperformance of the market will normally be measured compared to the EEA GDP over the last three years before the start of the project (benchmark rate); it can also be established on the basis of projected growth rates in the coming three to five years. Indicators may include the foreseeable future growth of the market concerned and the resulting expected capacity utilisation rates, as well as the likely impact of the capacity increase on competitors through its effects on prices and profit margins.
(21) Guidelines on regional State aid for 2014-2020 (OJ C 209, 23.7.2013, p. 1).
(22) Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (OJ L 187, 26.6.2014, p. 1).
(23) Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid (OJ L 352, 24.12.2013, p. 1).
(24) “The same or a similar activity” means an activity falling under the same class (four-digit numerical code) of the NACE Rev. 2 statistical classification of economic activities.
(31) As defined in the Communication from the Commission on Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty (OJ C 249, 31.7.2014, p. 1).
(32) As defined in Annex IV to Guidelines on regional State aid for 2014–2020.
(33) The Regional Aid Guidelines apply to aid schemes supporting activities outside the scope of Article 42 TFEU but covered by Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 487) and which are either co-financed by the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development or are granted as additional national financing to such co-financed schemes, unless sectoral rules provide otherwise.
(34) As defined in footnote 12 of the Regional Aid Guidelines.
(25) Communication from the Commission, EU Guidelines for the application of State aid rules in relation to the rapid deployment of broadband networks (OJ C 25, 26.1.2013, p. 1).
(26) “SMEs” means undertakings that fulfil the conditions laid down in Commission recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36).
(27) The sole acquisition of the shares of an undertaking does not qualify as initial investment.
(28) “The same or a similar activity” means an activity falling under the same class (four-digit numerical code) of the NACE Rev. 2 statistical classification of economic activities.
(29) The notification threshold is defined in paragraph 20(n) RAG.
(30) In the transport sector, expenditure on the purchase of transport equipment cannot be included in the uniform set of items of expenditure. Such expenditure is not eligible for initial investment.
(31) That provision does not have to apply for SMEs or in case of acquisition of an establishment.
(32) Paragraph 101 RAG provides that intangible assets which are eligible for the calculation of the investments costs must remain associated with the assisted area concerned and must not be transferred to other regions. To this end, the intangible assets must fulfil the following conditions:
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they must be used exclusively in the establishment receiving the aid: |
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they must be amortisable; |
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they must be purchased under market conditions from third parties unrelated to the buyer. |
Paragraph 102 RAG provides that the intangible assets must be included in the assets of the undertaking receiving the aid and must remain associated with the project for which the aid is awarded for at least five years (three years for SMEs).
(33) Operating Programme or development programme defined in the context of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development or the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
(34) This question does not apply to subsidised loans, public equity-capital loans or public participations which do not meet the market investor principle, State guarantees containing elements of aid, or public support granted within the scope of de minimis rule.
(35) For that purpose reference can be made, among others, to impact assessments of the proposed scheme or ex post evaluations of similar schemes.
(36) For example, direct grants, exemptions or reductions in taxes, social security or other compulsory charges, or the supply of land, goods or services at favourable prices, etc.
(37) For example, low-interest loans or interest rebates, State guarantees, the purchase of a shareholding or an alternative provision of capital on favourable terms.
(38) A counterfactual is credible if it is genuine and relates to the decision-making factors prevalent at the time of the decision by the beneficiary regarding the investment.
(39) In order to enable the Commission to assess the likely negative effects the Member State could submit any impact assessment at its disposal as well as ex-post evaluations carried out for similar predecessor schemes (as specified in paragraph 125 RAG).
(40) Guidelines on regional State aid for 2014-2020 (OJ C 209, 23.7.2013, p. 1).
(35) As defined in the Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty (OJ C 249, 31.7.2014, p. 1).
(36) As defined in Annex IV to Guidelines on regional State aid for 2014–2020.
(37) The Regional Aid Guidelines apply to aid schemes supporting activities outside the scope of Article 42 TFEU but covered by the Rural Development Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 487)) and which are either co-financed by the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development or are being granted as additional national financing to such co-financed schemes, unless sectoral rules provide for otherwise.
(41) “SMEs” means undertakings that fulfil the conditions laid down in Commission recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36).
(42) In that respect please note that operating aid to compensate for additional transport costs of goods which have been produced in areas eligible for operating aid can only be granted in compliance with the General Block Exemption Regulation (“GBER”) in force at the moment of the granting.
(43) OJ C 198, 27.6.2014, p. 1.
(44) Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (OJ L 187, 26.6.2014, p. 1).
(45) OJ C 249, 31.7.2014, p. 1.
(46) Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC (OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 65), and Directive 2014/25/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors and repealing Directive 2004/17/EC (OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 243).
(47) Without prejudice to procedures that cover both the development and the subsequent purchase of unique or specialised products or services.
(48) If the aid application is for an R & D project, it is not excluded that the potential beneficiary would have already carried out feasibility studies which are not covered by the request for aid.
(49) OJ C 14, 19.1.2008, p. 6.
(50) OJ C 249, 31.7.2014, p. 1.
(51) This 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 of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC (OJ L 182, 29.6.2013, p. 19).
(52) 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.
(53) This refers in particular to the types of company mentioned in Annex II to Directive 2013/34/EU.
(54) As defined in Decision 2010/787/EU.
(55) As defined in Annex IV to the Communication from the Commission: Guidelines on regional state aid for 2014-2020 (OJ C 209, 23.7.2013, p. 1).
(56) Communication from the Commission on the application, from 1 August 2013, of the State aid rules to support measures in favour of banks in the context of the financial crisis (“Banking Communication”) (OJ C 216, 30.7.2013, p. 1).
(57) Communication from the Commission on the revision of the method for setting the reference and discount rates (OJ C 14, 19.1.2008, p. 6) or any future communication which might replace it.
(58) Including any such aid granted before the date on which the Commission began to apply the Guidelines, i.e. before 1.8.2014.
(59) Please note that where less than 10 years have elapsed since the rescue aid or temporary restructuring support was granted or the restructuring period came to an end or implementation of the restructuring plan was halted (whichever occurred the latest), further rescue aid, restructuring aid or temporary restructuring support can be only granted: (a) where temporary restructuring support follows the granting of rescue aid as part of a single restructuring operation; (b) where restructuring aid follows the granting of rescue aid or temporary restructuring support as part of a single restructuring operation; (c) where rescue aid or temporary restructuring support has been granted in accordance with these guidelines and that aid was not followed by restructuring aid, if: (i) it could reasonably have been believed that the beneficiary would be viable in the long term when the aid pursuant to these guidelines was granted, and (ii) new rescue or restructuring aid or temporary restructuring support becomes necessary after at least five years due to unforeseeable circumstances for which the beneficiary is not responsible; (d) in exceptional and unforeseeable circumstances for which the beneficiary is not responsible.
(60) OJ C 249, 31.7.2014, p. 1.
(61) This 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 of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC (OJ L 182, 29.6.2013, p. 19).
(62) 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.
(63) This refers in particular to the types of company mentioned in Annex II to Directive 2013/34/EU.
(64) As defined in Decision 2010/787/EU.
(65) As defined in Annex IV to the Communication from the Commission: Guidelines on regional state aid for 2014-2020 (OJ C 209, 23.7.2013, p. 1).
(66) Communication from the Commission on the application, from 1 August 2013, of the State aid rules to support measures in favour of banks in the context of the financial crisis (“Banking Communication”) (OJ C 216, 30.7.2013, p. 1).
(67) Restructuring may involve one or more of the following elements: the reorganisation and rationalisation of the beneficiary's activities to a more efficient basis, typically involving withdrawal from loss-making activities, restructuring of those existing activities that can be made competitive again and, possibly, diversification towards new and viable activities. It typically also involves financial restructuring in the form of capital injections by new or existing shareholders and debt reduction by existing creditors.
(68) Long-term viability is achieved when an undertaking is able to provide an appropriate projected return on capital after having covered all its costs including depreciation and financial charges. The restructured undertaking should be able to compete in the marketplace on its own merits.
(69) The alternative scenario may concern, for example: debt reorganisation, asset disposal, private capital raising, sale to a competitor or break-up, in each case either through entry into an insolvency or reorganisation procedure or otherwise.
(70) Please also see point 56 of the Guidelines.
(71) Please also see point 64 of the Guidelines.
(72) For example, where the aid to be granted enhances the beneficiary's equity position, the own contribution should similarly include measures that are equity-enhancing, such as raising fresh equity from incumbent shareholders, the write-down of existing debt and capital notes or the conversion of existing debt to equity, or the raising of new external equity on market terms.
(73) For example where the State provides grants, injects capital or writes off debt.
(74) Including any such aid granted before the date on which the Commission began to apply the Guidelines, i.e. before 1.8.2014.
(75) Please note that where less than 10 years have elapsed since the rescue aid or temporary restructuring support was granted or the restructuring period came to an end or implementation of the restructuring plan was halted (whichever occurred the latest), further rescue aid, restructuring aid or temporary restructuring support can only be granted: (a) where temporary restructuring support follows the granting of rescue aid as part of a single restructuring operation; (b) where restructuring aid follows the granting of rescue aid or temporary restructuring support as part of a single restructuring operation; (c) where rescue aid or temporary restructuring support has been granted in accordance with these guidelines and that aid was not followed by restructuring aid, if: (i) it could reasonably have been believed that the beneficiary would be viable in the long term when the aid pursuant to these guidelines was granted, and (ii) new rescue or restructuring aid or temporary restructuring support becomes necessary after at least five years due to unforeseeable circumstances for which the beneficiary is not responsible; (d) in exceptional and unforeseeable circumstances for which the beneficiary is not responsible.
(76) Divestments to limit distortions of competition should take place without undue delay, taking into account the type of asset being divested and any obstacles to its disposal, and in any case within the duration of the restructuring plan.
(77) This could in particular include measures to open up certain markets directly or indirectly linked to the beneficiary's activities to other Union operators, in compliance with Union law. Such initiatives may replace other measures to limit distortions of competition that would normally be required of the beneficiary.
(78) Please see points 32 to 35 of the Guidelines for the types of measures covered by the notion of “aid to cover the social costs of restructuring”.
(79) OJ C 249, 31.7.2014, p. 1.
(80) As defined in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36).
(81) “Smaller State-owned undertakings” are economic units with an independent power of decision that would qualify as small or medium-sized enterprises under Recommendation 2003/361/EC but for the fact that 25 % or more of the capital or voting rights are directly or indirectly controlled, jointly or individually, by one or more public bodies.
(82) This 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 of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC (OJ L 182, 29.6.2013, p. 19).
(83) 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.
(84) This refers in particular to the types of company mentioned in Annex II to Directive 2013/34/EU.
(85) As defined in Decision 2010/787/EU.
(86) As defined in Annex IV to the Communication from the Commission: Guidelines on regional state aid for 2014-2020 (OJ C 209, 23.7.2013, p. 1).
(87) Communication from the Commission on the application, from 1 August 2013, of the State aid rules to support measures in favour of banks in the context of the financial crisis (“Banking Communication”) (OJ C 216, 30.7.2013, p. 1).
(88) Restructuring may involve one or more of the following elements: the reorganisation and rationalisation of the beneficiary's activities to a more efficient basis, typically involving withdrawal from loss-making activities, restructuring of those existing activities that can be made competitive again and, possibly, diversification towards new and viable activities. It typically also involves financial restructuring in the form of capital injections by new or existing shareholders and debt reduction by existing creditors.
(89) Long-term viability is achieved when an undertaking is able to provide an appropriate projected return on capital after having covered all its costs including depreciation and financial charges. The restructured undertaking should be able to compete in the marketplace on its own merits.
(90) The alternative scenario should not involve State aid. It may concern, for example: debt reorganisation, asset disposal, private capital raising, sale to a competitor or break-up, in each case either through entry into an insolvency or reorganisation procedure or otherwise.
(91) Communication from the Commission on the revision of the method for setting the reference and discount rates (OJ C 14, 19.1.2008, p. 6) or any future communication which might replace it.
(92) In line with point 115(e) of the Guidelines, that plan need not contain all the elements set out in points 47 to 52 of the Guidelines, but must, as a minimum, identify the actions that the beneficiary must take to restore its long-term viability without State support.
(93) For example, where the aid to be granted enhances the beneficiary's equity position, the own contribution should similarly include measures that are equity-enhancing, such as raising fresh equity from incumbent shareholders, the write-down of existing debt and capital notes or the conversion of existing debt to equity, or the raising of new external equity on market terms.
(94) For example where the State provides grants, injects capital or writes off debt.
(95) Please note where less than 10 years have elapsed since the rescue aid or temporary restructuring support was granted or the restructuring period came to an end or implementation of the restructuring plan was halted (whichever occurred the latest), further rescue aid, restructuring aid or temporary restructuring support can be only granted: (a) where temporary restructuring support follows the granting of rescue aid as part of a single restructuring operation; (b) where restructuring aid follows the granting of rescue aid or temporary restructuring support as part of a single restructuring operation; (c) where rescue aid or temporary restructuring support has been granted in accordance with these guidelines and that aid was not followed by restructuring aid, if: (i) it could reasonably have been believed that the beneficiary would be viable in the long term when the aid pursuant to these guidelines was granted, and (ii) new rescue or restructuring aid or temporary restructuring support becomes necessary after at least five years due to unforeseeable circumstances for which the beneficiary is not responsible; (d) in exceptional and unforeseeable circumstances for which the beneficiary is not responsible.
(96) Including any such aid granted before the date from when the Commission applies the Guidelines, i.e. before 1.8.2014.
(97) Member States are not obliged to require such measures from small enterprises, except where otherwise provided by rules on State aid in a particular sector. However, small enterprises should not normally increase their capacity during a restructuring period.
(98) Divestments, write-offs and closure of loss-making activities which would at any rate be necessary to restore long-term viability will generally not be considered sufficient.
(99) Such measures should take place in the market(s) where the beneficiary will have a significant market position after the restructuring, in particular those where there is significant excess capacity.
(100) Divestments to limit distortions of competition should take place without undue delay, taking into account the type of asset being divested and any obstacles to its disposal, and in any case within the duration of the restructuring plan.
(101) This could in particular include measures to open up certain markets directly or indirectly linked to the beneficiary's activities to other Union operators, in compliance with Union law. Such initiatives may replace other measures to limit distortions of competition that would normally be required of the beneficiary.
(102) Communication from the Commission on State aid for films and other audiovisual works (OJ C 332, 15.11.2013, p. 1).
(103) EU Guidelines for the application of State aid rules in relation to the rapid deployment of broadband networks (OJ C 25, 26.1.2013, p. 1).
(104) EUROPE 2020 — A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, COM(2010) 2020.
(105) For details see points 56 to 60 of the Broadband Guidelines.
(106) For details see points 82 to 85 of the Broadband Guidelines.
(107) See for an example the Commission Guide to high speed broadband investment (http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/presenta/broadband2011/broadband2011_en.pdf.
(108) Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts (OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 1), Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC (OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 65) and Directive 2014/25/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors and repealing Directive 2004/17/EC, (OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 243).
(109) For instance, investment and business model selected, size and characteristics of the geographic intervention areas or measures to control projects costs.
(110) The list of Commission decisions on State aid to broadband are available on DG Competition's homepage: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/sectors/telecommunications/broadband_decisions.pdf.
(111) OJ C 200, 28.6.2014, p. 1. For some details concerning the use of this supplementary notification sheet in agriculture and the fishery and aquaculture sectors see point 14 of the EEAG.
(112) Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (OJ L 187, 26.6.2014, p. 1).
(113) Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid (OJ L 352, 24.12.2013, p. 1).
(114) See section 3.7 of EEAG, aid in the form of reductions in or exemptions from environmental taxes and in the form of reductions in funding support for electricity from renewable sources.
(115) When introducing a measure co-financed by the European Structural and Investments Funds, Member States may rely on the reasoning in the relevant Operational Programmes in indicating the environmental or energy objectives pursued.
(116) The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity.
(117) For the purpose of demonstrating the appropriateness of schemes, the Member State can also rely on the results of past evaluations as described in Chapter 4 of the EEAG.
(118) “Start of works” is defined in point 19(44) of the EEAG.
(119) That requirement is not applicable to SMEs and is without prejudice to the assessment of the incentive effect of State aid for energy-efficiency measure prescribed by or carried out as a result of the energy audit or those resulting from other tools (see points 56 and 57 of the EEAG).
(120) For details see points 72 to 76 of the EEAG.
(121) The correct counterfactual is the cost of a technically comparable investment that provides a lower degree of environmental protection (corresponding to mandatory Union standards in force) which could possibly be carried out without aid. See point 73(b) of the EEAG. For instance see list provided in Annex 2 to the EEAG. In case the reference investment is not the one listed in Annex 2, please explain and justify its appropriateness.
(122) Please note that this condition does not apply if the intangible asset is technically out of date.
(123) See Annex 2 to the EEAG: The extra investment costs consist of the additional investment costs necessary to go beyond the level of environmental protection required by the Union standards.
(124) Please note that the cost of investments needed to reach the level of protection required by the Union standards is not eligible.
(125) See point 78(a) of the EEAG.
(126) See point 78(b) of the EEAG.
(127) See point 78(c) of the EEAG. “Eco-innovation” is defined in point 19(4) of the EEAG.
(128) For details of the genuinely competitive bidding process required, see the definition in point 19(43) of the EEAG.
(129) Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1).
(130) Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC (OJ L 140, 5.6.2009, p. 16).
(131) For aid schemes the information can be provided in the form of atypical calculation (or several examples).
(132) Please note that the Commission can authorise such notified measures for a period of 10 years.
(133) The decision as to whether the aid is necessary will take account of the costs and revenue resulting from the production and sale of the electric power or heat.
(134) The production cost may include the plant's normal return on capital, but any gains by the undertaking in terms of heat production must be deducted from production costs.
(135) Please note that any investment aid granted to the undertaking in respect of the new plant must be deducted from production costs.
(136) Please note that the duration must be limited to maximum 5 years.
(137) See section 3.7.1 of the EEAG.
(138) As set out in point 19(16) of the EEAG, “Union minimum tax level” means the minimum level of taxation provided for in Union legislation. For energy products and electricity, the Union minimum tax level means the minimum level of taxation laid down in Annex I to Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity (OJ L 283, 31.10.2003, p. 51).
(139) In this respect, Member States may provide estimations of, inter alia, the product price elasticity of the sector concerned in the relevant geographic market as well as estimates of lost sales and/or reduced profits for the companies in the sector/category concerned.
(140) Guidelines on certain State aid measures in the context of the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme post 2012 (OJ C 158, 5.6.2012, p. 4).
(141) The most direct way to demonstrate the causal link is by reference to a charge or levy on top of the electricity price, which is dedicated to the funding of energy from renewable sources. An indirect way to demonstrate the additional costs would be to calculate the impact of higher net costs for the electricity suppliers from green certificates and calculate the impact on the electricity price assuming the higher net costs are passed on by the supplier.
(142) Guidelines on State aid to promote risk finance investments (OJ C 19, 22.1.2014, p. 4).
(143) Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (OJ L 187, 26.6.2014, p. 1).
(144) Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid (OJ L 352, 24.12.2013, p. 1).
(145) Communication from the Commission on the revision of the method for setting the reference and discount rates (OJ C 14, 19.1.2008, p. 6).
(146) Commission Notice on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid in the form of guarantees (OJ C 155, 20.6.2008, p. 10).
(147) The RFG (paragraphs 46 – 49) require that an ex-ante assessment be carried out and submitted for all notifiable risk finance measures.
(148) Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 320).
(149) Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (OJ L 187, 26.6.2014, p. 1).
(150) SWD(2014)179 final of 28.5.2014.
(151) Beyond providing a general description of the objectives and eligibility rules of the scheme, the aim of this section is to assess how the eligibility and exclusion rules of the scheme may be used to identify the effect of aid. In some cases, the precise eligibility rules may not be known in advance. In those cases the best available expectations should be provided.
(152) Examples of negative effects are regional and sectorial biases or crowding out of private investments induced by the aid scheme.
(153) Aid schemes defined in Article 1(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 are excluded from the scope of the Regulation six months after their entry into force. After having assessed the evaluation plan, the Commission may decide to extend the application of the Regulation to such schemes for a longer period. Member States are invited to precisely indicate the intended duration of the scheme.
(154) Please make reference to SWD(2014)179 final of 28.5.2014.
(155) Please note that the evaluation might require sourcing of both historical data and data that will become progressively available during the deployment of the aid scheme. Please identify the sources for both types of information. Both types of data should preferably be collected from the same source as to guarantee consistency across time.
(1) Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (OJ C 99, 4.4.2014, p. 3).
(2) The costs relating to the investments in airport infrastructure, including planning costs, ground handling infrastructure (such as baggage belts, etc.) and airport equipment can be eligible as investment aid to airports. Investment costs relating to non-aeronautical activities (in particular parking, hotels, restaurants, and offices) are ineligible. The investment costs relating to the provision of ground handling services (such as buses, vehicles, etc.) are ineligible, insofar as they are not part of ground handling infrastructure.
(3) “Catchment area of an airport” means a geographic market boundary that is normally set at around 100 kilometres or around 60 minutes travelling time by car, bus, train or high-speed train; however, the catchment area of a given airport may be different and needs to take into account the specificities of each particular airport. The size and shape of the catchment area varies from airport to airport, and depends on various characteristics of the airport, including its business model, location and the destinations it serves.
(4) Please use the following categories of sizes: airports with annual passenger traffic up to 200 000 passengers; airports with annual passenger traffic of between 200 000 and 1 million; airports with annual passenger traffic of 1–3 million.
(5) For example, direct grants, exemptions or reductions in taxes, social security or other compulsory charges, or the supply of land, goods or services at favourable prices, etc.
(6) For example, low-interest loans or interest rebates, state guarantees, the purchase of a shareholding or an alternative provision of capital on favourable terms.
(7) The capital cost funding gap is the difference between the positive and negative cash flows including investment costs into fixed capital assets over the lifetime of the investment in net present value terms.
(8) Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (OJ C 99, 4.4.2014, p. 3).
(9) “Operating funding gap” means the operating losses of an airport over the relevant period, discounted to their current value using the cost of capital, that is to say the shortfall (in Net Present Value terms) between airport revenues and operating costs of the airport.
(10) Balance sheet, profit and loss statement, statement of chartered accountant or audit firm.
(11) Services provided by an airport or any of its subsidiaries, to ensure the handling of aircraft, from landing to take-off, and of passengers and freight, so as to enable airlines to provide air transport services, including the provision of ground handling services and the provision of centralised ground handling infrastructure.
(12) Underlying costs of an airport in respect of the provision of airport services, including cost categories such as cost of personnel, contracted services, communications, waste, energy, maintenance, rent and administration, but excluding the capital costs, marketing support or any other incentives granted to airlines by the airport, and costs falling within a public policy remit.
(13) “Catchment area of an airport” means a geographic market boundary that is normally set at around 100 kilometres or around 60 minutes travelling time by car, bus, train or high-speed train; however, the catchment area of a given airport may be different and needs to take into account the specificities of each particular airport. The size and shape of the catchment area varies from airport to airport, and depends on various characteristics of the airport, including its business model, location and the destinations it serves.
(14) For example, direct grants, exemptions or reductions in taxes, social security or other compulsory charges, or the supply of land, goods or services at favourable prices, etc.
(15) For example, low-interest loans or interest rebates, State guarantees, the purchase of a shareholding or an alternative provision of capital on favourable terms.
(16) “Operating funding gap” means the operating losses of an airport over the relevant period, discounted to their current value using the cost of capital, that is to say the shortfall (in Net Present Value terms) between airport revenues and operating costs of the airport.
(17) Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (OJ C 99, 4.4.2014, p. 3).
(18) “High-speed rail service” is a service provided with trains capable of reaching speeds of over 200 km/h.
(19) “Catchment area of an airport” means a geographic market boundary that is normally set at around 100 kilometres or around 60 minutes travelling time by car, bus, train or high-speed train; however, the catchment area of a given airport may be different and needs to take into account the specificities of each particular airport. The size and shape of the catchment area varies from airport to airport, and depends on various characteristics of the airport, including its business model, location and the destinations it serves.
(20) Actual average annual passenger traffic during the two financial years preceding that in which the aid is notified or actually granted or paid in the case of non-notified aid. In the case of a newly created passenger airport, the forecasted average annual passenger traffic during the two financial years after the beginning of the operation of commercial passenger air traffic should be considered. These thresholds refer to a one-way count. As a result a passenger flying for example to the airport and back would be counted twice; the count applies to individual routes.
(21) Decision 2006/682/EC of the Council and of the Representatives of the Member States of the European Union meeting within the Council on the signature and provisional application of the Multilateral Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, the Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Iceland, the Republic of Montenegro, the Kingdom of Norway, Romania, the Republic of Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo on the Establishment of a European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) (OJ L 285, 16.10.2006, p. 1).
(22) For example, low-interest loans or interest rebates, State guarantees, the purchase of a shareholding or an alternative provision of capital on favourable terms.
(23) Eligible costs are the airport charges in respect of the route.
(24) Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (OJ C 99, 4.4.2014, p. 3).
(25) Where the route concerned links remote regions, such as outermost regions, islands, and sparsely populated areas, the aid could cover the entire population of that region.
(26) Such as outermost regions, islands and sparsely populated areas.
(27) Community guidelines on State aid to maritime transport (OJ C 13, 17.1.2004, p. 3).
ANNEX II
Annexes III.A and III.B are replaced by the following:
‘ANNEX III.A
Standardised reporting format for existing State aid
(This format covers all sectors except agriculture)
In order to further simplify and improve the annual reporting of State aid, the Commission provides Member States, by 1 March each year, with a pre-formatted online and access based platform, containing detailed information on all existing aid schemes and individual aid. Member States must check and complete that information by 30 June of the same year. That will enable the Commission to publish State aid data in year t (1) for the reporting period t-1.
The bulk of the information in the platform is pre-completed by the Commission on the basis of data provided at the time of approval of the aid. Member States will be required to check and, where necessary, modify the details for each scheme or individual aid, and to add the annual expenditure for the latest year (t-1).
Information such as the objective of the aid and the sector to which the aid is directed must refer to the time at which the aid is approved and relate to the legal instrument which forms the basis for the approval of the aid.
The following information must be included.
|
(1) |
Title |
|
(2) |
Aid number |
|
(3) |
Previous aid numbers (e.g., following the renewal of a scheme) |
|
(4) |
Sector The sectoral classification shall be based largely on NACE (2) at the [three-digit level.] |
|
(5) |
Objective |
|
(6) |
Region(s) Aid may, at the time of approval, be exclusively earmarked for a specific region or group of regions according to subparagraphs (a) or (c) of Article 107(3) TFEU. |
|
(7) |
Category of aid instrument(s) A distinction must be made between several categories (Grant, Subsidised services, Interest rate subsidy, Loan, Guarantee, Tax advantage, Repayable advances, Equity participation, Other) |
|
(8) |
Type of aid A distinction must be made between three categories: Scheme, Individual application of a scheme, Individual aid awarded outside of a scheme (ad hoc aid) |
|
(9) |
Expenditure As a general rule, figures should be expressed in terms of actual expenditure (or actual revenue foregone in the case of tax advantages). Where payments are not available, commitments or budget appropriations must be provided and flagged accordingly. Separate figures must be provided for each aid instrument within a scheme or individual aid for example grant and loans. Figures must be expressed in the national currency in application at the time of the reporting period. Expenditure must be provided for t-1, t-2, t-3, t-4 and t-5. |
‘ANNEX III.B
Standardised reporting format for existing State aid
(This format covers the agricultural sector)
In order to further simplify and improve the annual reporting of State aid, the Commission provides Member States, by 1 March each year, with a pre-formatted online and access based platform containing detailed information on all existing aid schemes and individual aid. Member States must check and complete that information by 30 June of the same year. That will enable the Commission to publish State aid data in year t (3) for the reporting period t-1.
The bulk of the information in the platform will be pre-completed by the Commission on the basis of data provided at the time of approval of the aid. Member States will be required to check and, where necessary, modify the details for each scheme or individual aid, and to add the annual expenditure for the most recent year, that is to say t-1.
Information such as the objective of the aid and the sector to which the aid is directed must refer to the time at which the aid is approved and relate to the legal instrument which forms the basis for the approval of the aid.
The following information must be included.
|
(1) |
Title |
|
(2) |
Aid number |
|
(3) |
Previous aid numbers (e.g., following the renewal of a scheme) |
|
(4) |
Sector The sectoral classification shall be based largely on NACE (4) at the [three-digit level.] |
|
(5) |
Objective |
|
(6) |
Region(s) Aid may, at the time of approval, be exclusively earmarked for a specific region or group of regions according to subparagraphs (a) or (c) of Article 107(3) TFEU. |
|
(7) |
Category of aid instrument(s) A distinction must be made between several categories (Grant, Subsidised services, Interest rate subsidy, Loan, Guarantee, Tax advantage, Repayable advances, Equity participation, Other). |
|
(8) |
Type of aid A distinction must be made between three categories: Scheme, Individual application of a scheme, Individual aid awarded outside of a scheme (ad hoc aid). |
|
(9) |
Expenditure As a general rule, figures should be expressed in terms of actual expenditure (or actual revenue foregone in the case of tax advantages). Where payments are not available, commitments or budget appropriations must be provided and flagged accordingly. Separate figures must be provided for each aid instrument within a scheme or individual aid for example grant and loans. Figures must be expressed in the national currency in application at the time of the reporting period. Expenditure must be provided for t-1, t-2, t-3, t-4 and t-5. |
|
(10) |
Aid intensity and beneficiaries Member States must indicate:
|
(1) t is the year in which the data are requested.
(2) NACE Rev. 2, or subsequent legislation amending or replacing it; NACE is the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Union as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE Revision 2 and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC Regulations on specific statistical domains (OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1).
(3) t is the year in which the data are requested.
(4) NACE Rev. 2, or subsequent legislation amending or replacing it; NACE is the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Union as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE Revision 2 and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC Regulations on specific statistical domains (OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1).