Small-scale (de minimis) aid for farming

KEY POINTS

Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013, incorporating the amendments in Regulation (EU) 2024/3118, provides for the following.

• A Member State may grant aid of up to €50,000 to a given beneficiary over any period of three years.
• The cumulative amount of de minimis aid granted in each Member State must not exceed 2 % of the value of that Member State’s annual agricultural output (national cap). The reference period is extended from 2012–2017 to 2012–2023 to take account of the increased value of agricultural production over recent years, thereby increasing the national cap for all Member States.
• The beneficiary must be active in the primary production of agricultural products (e.g. live animals, fruit or vegetables).
• The amount of the aid must be transparent, i.e. quantifiable in advance.
• A mandatory central register of de minimis aid at the national or EU level will be introduced from 1 January 2027 to reduce the administrative burden and increase transparency.
• Aid that meets these conditions is not considered to constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and does not, therefore, have to be brought to the attention of the European Commission.
• De minimis aid can be cumulated with State aid (e.g. under Regulation (EU) 2022/2472 on State aid in the agricultural and forestry sectors – see summary) as long as the total aid does not breach the maximum aid rate/amount allowed for the other aid under State-aid rules.
• De minimis aid for agricultural sector can be also cumulated with de minimis aid for other sectors (e.g. where a beneficiary is active in both the agricultural primary production and in one or more of the sectors falling within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 (see summary) de minimis aid granted for agricultural production may be cumulated with de minimis aid granted for other sectors or activities up to the relevant ceiling laid down in that regulation).

Exclusions

Certain types of aid are ineligible as de minimis aid:

• aid whose amount is fixed on the basis of the price or quantity of products that are put on the market;
• aid directly linked to quantities exported, to the establishment and operation of a distribution network or to other current expenditures linked to an export activity;
• aid that is conditional upon the use of domestic over imported goods.