6.8.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 227/1

European Commission

Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development

Directorate for Agricultural Legislation

Unit M.2 Competition

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 130

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË

E-mail: Agri-State-Aids@ec.europa.eu

6.8.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 227/1

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 of 15 December 2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production of agricultural products and amending Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 (3) will expire on 31 December 2013.

(2)

The content of the future exemption regulation for aid granted to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the agriculture and forestry sector and in rural areas depends on various other instruments, in particular the new general block exemption regulation, replacing Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty (4). It also depends on the future rules applicable to rural development (5). Those other instruments are partly not yet in force on 1 January 2014 or not yet fully applicable at that moment.

(3)

On those grounds, it is appropriate to extend the period of application of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 until 30 June 2014.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5)

For the application of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006, it is appropriate to clarify that after the repeal of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 of 20 September 2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (6) references to that Regulation need to be construed as references to the repealed Regulation.

(6)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Advisory Committee on State Aid,

6.8.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 227/3

European Commission

Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development

Directorate for Agricultural Legislation

Unit M.2 Competition

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 130

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË

E-mail: Agri-State-Aids@ec.europa.eu

6.8.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 227/3

(1)

State funding meeting the criteria in Article 107(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (the Treaty) constitutes State aid and requires notification to the Commission by virtue of Article 108(3) of the Treaty. However, according to Article 109 of the Treaty, the Council may determine categories of aid that are exempted from this notification requirement. In accordance with Article 108(4) of the Treaty, the Commission may adopt regulations relating to these categories of State aid. By virtue of Regulation (EC) No 994/98 the Council decided, in accordance with Article 109 of the Treaty, that de minimis aid could constitute one such category. On that basis, de minimis aid, being aid granted to the same undertaking over a given period of time that does not exceed a certain fixed amount, is deemed not to meet all the criteria laid down in Article 107(1) of the Treaty and is therefore not subject to the notification procedure.

(2)

The Commission has, in numerous decisions, clarified the notion of aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) of the Treaty. The Commission has also stated its policy with regard to a de minimis ceiling below which Article 107(1) of the Treaty can be considered not to apply, initially in its notice on the de minimis rule for State aid (3) and subsequently in Commission Regulation (EC) No 69/2001 (4) and in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1998/2006 (5). In view of the special rules which apply in the agriculture sector and of the risks that even low levels of aid could fulfil the criteria laid down in Article 107(1) of the Treaty, Regulation (EC) No 69/2001 excluded the agriculture sector from its scope. Regulation (EC) No 1998/2006 which replaced Regulation (EC) No 69/2001 continued to exclude the primary production of agricultural products from its scope but brought the processing and marketing of agricultural products under the general scheme.

(3)

However, since the experience gained over the years has shown that very small amounts of aid granted in the field of agricultural primary production do not meet the criteria laid down in Article 107(1) of the Treaty where certain conditions are met, the Commission first laid down rules allowing the grant of de minimis aid for that production in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1860/2004 of 6 October 2004 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to de minimis aid in the agriculture and fisheries sectors (6). That Regulation covered both primary production and the processing and marketing of agricultural products.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 1860/2004 was repealed with effect from 1 January 2008 by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1535/2007 of 20 December 2007 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to de minimis aid in the sector of agricultural production (7). By virtue of that Regulation, which applied to aid granted to undertakings in the sector of agricultural production, the total amount of de minimis aid granted to one single undertaking active in the sector of agricultural production was regarded as not meeting all the criteria laid down in Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty where it did not exceed EUR 7 500 per beneficiary over any period of 3 fiscal years and a cumulative amount laid down for each Member State representing 0,75 % of annual output in the agriculture sector.

(5)

For the purposes of the rules on competition laid down in the Treaty an undertaking is any entity engaged in an economic activity, regardless of its legal status and the way in which it is financed (8). The Court of Justice has ruled that all entities which are controlled (on a legal or on a de facto basis) by the same entity should be considered as a single undertaking (9). For the sake of legal certainty and to reduce the administrative burden, this Regulation should provide an exhaustive list of clear criteria for determining when two or more entities shall be considered as a single undertaking. The Commission has selected from the well-established criteria for defining ‘linked enterprises’ in the definition of SME (Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 800/2008) (10) those criteria that are appropriate for the purpose of this Regulation. Those criteria are already familiar to public authorities and should be applicable, given the scope of this Regulation, to SMEs as well as large undertakings.

(6)

In the light of the Commission's experience in applying Regulation (EC) No 1535/2007, the maximum amount of aid over a period of 3 years may be increased to EUR 10 000 and the cap may be increased to 1 % of annual output, which still ensure that any measure falling under this Regulation does not have any effect on trade between Member States and/or does not distort or threaten to distort competition.

(7)

Considering the similarities between the processing and marketing of agricultural products and of non-agricultural products, processing and marketing of agricultural products are included in the scope of Commission Regulation (EU) No …/2013 of … on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty to de minimis aid (11) (Regulation (EU) No …/2013 (general de minimis)).

(8)

The Court of Justice has established (12) that, once the Union has legislated for the establishment of a common organisation of the market in a given sector of agriculture, Member States are under an obligation to refrain from taking any measure which might undermine or create exceptions to it. For this reason, this Regulation should not apply to aid the amount of which is set on the basis of the price or quantity of products purchased or put on the market.

(9)

This Regulation should not apply to export aid or aid favouring domestic over imported products. In particular, it should not apply to aid financing the establishment and operation of a distribution network in other Member States or third countries. Aid towards the cost of participating in trade fairs, or of studies or consultancy services needed for the launch of a new or existing product on a new market does not normally constitute export aid.

(10)

This Regulation should not apply to undertakings in difficulty since it is not appropriate to grant financial support to undertakings in difficulty outside of a restructuring plan. Furthermore, there are difficulties linked to determining the gross grant equivalent of aid granted to undertakings of this type. In order to provide legal certainty, it is appropriate to establish clear criteria that do not require an assessment of all the particular characteristics of the situation of an undertaking to determine whether an undertaking is considered to be in difficulty for the purposes of this Regulation.

(11)

The period of 3 years to be taken into account for the purposes of this Regulation should be assessed on a rolling basis so that, for each new grant of de minimis aid, the total amount of de minimis aid granted in the fiscal year concerned, as well as during the previous two fiscal years, needs to be taken into account.

(12)

Where undertakings are active in the agricultural production sector as well as in one or more sectors governed by Regulation (EU) No …/2013 (general de minimis), the provisions of that Regulation should apply to aid granted in respect of the latter sectors provided that Member States ensure by appropriate means such as separation of activities or distinction of costs that the activity in the agricultural production sector does not benefit from de minimis aid that does not fulfil the conditions laid down in this Regulation.

(13)

This Regulation should lay down rules to ensure that it is not possible to circumvent maximum aid intensities laid down in specific regulations or Commission decisions. It should also provide for clear rules on cumulation that are easy to apply.

(14)

This Regulation does not exclude the possibility that a measure might be considered not to be State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) of the Treaty on the basis of other grounds than those set out in this Regulation, for instance because the measure complies with the market economy operator principle or because the measure does not involve a transfer of State resources.

(15)

For the purposes of transparency, equal treatment and effective monitoring, this Regulation should apply only to de minimis aid for which it is possible to calculate precisely the gross grant equivalent ex ante without any need to undertake a risk assessment (transparent aid). Such a precise calculation can, for instance, be made for grants, interest rate subsidies, capped tax exemptions or other instruments that provide for a cap ensuring that the applicable ceiling is not exceeded. Providing for a cap means that as long as the precise amount of aid is not or not yet known, the Member State has to assume that the amount equals the cap in order to ensure that several aid measures together do not exceed the ceiling set out in this Regulation and to apply the rules on cumulation.

(16)

For the purposes of transparency, equal treatment and the correct application of the de minimis ceiling, all Member States should apply the same method of calculation. In order to facilitate such calculation, aid amounts not taking the form of a cash grant should be converted into their gross grant equivalent. Calculation of the gross grant equivalent of transparent types of aid other than grants and of aid payable in several instalments requires the use of market rates prevailing at the time of granting such aid. With a view to uniform, transparent and simple application of the State aid rules, the market rates applicable for the purposes of this Regulation should be the reference rates, as set out in the Communication from the Commission on the revision of the method for setting the reference and discount rates (13).

(17)

Aid comprised in loans should be considered transparent de minimis aid if the gross grant equivalent has been calculated on the basis of market interest rates prevailing at the time the aid is granted. In order to simplify the treatment of small loans of short duration, this Regulation should provide for a clear rule that is easy to apply and takes into account both the amount of the loan and its duration. Based on the Commission’s experience, loans that are secured by collateral covering at least 50 % of the loan and that do not exceed either EUR 50 000 and a duration of 5 years or EUR 25 000 and a duration of 10 years can be considered as having a gross grant equivalent equal to the de minimis ceiling.

(18)

Aid comprised in capital injections should not be considered as transparent de minimis aid, unless the total amount of the public injection does not exceed the de minimis ceiling. Aid comprised in risk finance measures taking the form of equity or quasi-equity investments, as referred to in (the new guidelines on risk finance), should not be considered as transparent de minimis aid unless the measure concerned provides capital not exceeding the de minimis ceiling to each target undertaking.

(19)

Aid comprised in guarantees should be considered as transparent if the gross grant equivalent has been calculated on the basis of safe-harbour premiums laid down in a Commission notice for the type of undertaking concerned. For instance, for small and medium-sized enterprises, the Commission Notice on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid in the form of guarantees (14) indicates levels of annual premium above which a State guarantee would be deemed not to constitute aid. In order to simplify the treatment of guarantees of short duration securing up to 80 % of a relatively small loan, this Regulation should provide for a clear rule that is easy to apply and takes into account both the amount of the underlying loan and the duration of the guarantee. This rule should not apply to guarantees on underlying transactions not constituting a loan, such as guarantees on equity transactions. Where the guarantee does not exceed 80 % of the underlying loan, the amount guaranteed does not exceed EUR 75 000 and the duration of the guarantee does not exceed 5 years the guarantee can be considered as having a gross grant equivalent equal to the de minimis ceiling. The same applies when the guarantee does not exceed 80 % of the underlying loan, the amount guaranteed does not exceed EUR 37 500 and the duration of the guarantee does not exceed 10 years.

(20)

Where the loan or guarantee is for a smaller amount or a shorter duration than those specified in recitals 17 and 19, the gross grant equivalent should be calculated by multiplying the ratio between the actual amount and the maximum amount indicated in recitals 17 and 19 by the ratio between the actual duration and 5 years by EUR 10 000. Thus, for instance, a loan of EUR 25 000 for 2,5 years would be deemed to have a gross grant equivalent of EUR 2 500.

(21)

Upon notification by a Member State, the Commission may examine whether a measure which does not consist of a grant, loan, guarantee, capital injection or risk finance measure taking the form of an equity or quasi-equity investment, leads to a gross grant equivalent that does not exceed the de minimis ceiling and could therefore fall within the scope of this Regulation.

(22)

The Commission has a duty to ensure that State aid rules are complied with and in accordance with the cooperation principle laid down in Article 4(3) of the Treaty on European Union, Member States should facilitate the fulfilment of this task by establishing the necessary tools in order to ensure that the total amount of de minimis aid granted to a single undertaking under the de minimis rule does not exceed the overall permissible ceiling.

(23)

Before granting any de minimis aid Member States should verify for their Member State that the de minimis ceiling and the national cap will not be exceeded by the new de minimis aid and that the other conditions of this Regulation are complied with.

(24)

In order to ensure that Member States have accurate, reliable and complete data to ensure that by granting new de minimis aid the ceiling which applies in respect of the undertaking concerned as well as the national cap are not exceeded, Member States should be required to set up a central register of de minimis aid containing information on all de minimis aid granted in accordance with this Regulation by any authority within that Member State. Member States should be free to design their register and decide on the appropriate mechanism to establish it in accordance with their constitutional and administrative structure provided they ensure that the register allows all public authorities in the Member State to check the amount of de minimis aid received by each undertaking. Member States should be given sufficient time to establish such a register.

(25)

Until a Member State has set up a central register and the register covers a period of 3 years, the Member State should inform the undertaking concerned of the amount of de minimis aid granted and of its de minimis character and should make express reference to this Regulation. In addition, before granting such aid the Member State concerned should obtain from the undertaking a declaration about other de minimis aid covered by this Regulation or by other de minimis regulations received during the fiscal year concerned and the previous two fiscal years.

(26)

In order to allow the Commission to monitor the application of this Regulation and to identify potential distortions of competition, Member States should be required to provide basic information on the amounts granted in accordance with this Regulation on a yearly basis. If the Member State has informed the Commission where all data required in the reports are made publicly available, the Member State should not be required to provide a report to the Commission.

(27)

Having regard to the Commission’s experience and in particular the frequency with which it is generally necessary to revise State aid policy, the period of application of this Regulation should be limited. If this Regulation were to expire without being extended, Member States should have an adjustment period of 6 months with regard to de minimis aid covered by this Regulation,

(a)

aid the amount of which is fixed on the basis of the price or quantity of products put on the market;

(b)

aid to export-related activities towards third countries or Member States, namely aid directly linked to the quantities exported, to the establishment and operation of a distribution network or to other current expenditure linked to the export activity;

(c)

aid contingent on the use of domestic over imported goods;

(d)

aid granted to undertakings in difficulty as defined in Article 2(e).

(a)

‘a single undertaking’ for the purpose of this Regulation means all entities which have at least one of the following relationships with each other:

(Entities having any of the relationships described above through one or more other entities are also considered to be a single undertaking.)

(b)

‘undertakings in the sector of agricultural production’ means undertakings active in the primary production of agricultural products;

(c)

‘agricultural products’ means products listed in Annex I to the Treaty, with the exception of fishery and aquaculture products listed in Annex I to Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) No …/2013(not yet adopted; see Commission proposal COM(2011) 416) (15);

(d)

‘processing of agricultural products’ means any operation on an agricultural product resulting in a product which is also an agricultural product, except on-farm activities necessary for preparing an animal or plant product for the first sale;

(e)

‘marketing of agricultural products’ means holding or display with a view to sale, offering for sale, delivery or any other manner of placing on the market, except the first sale by a primary producer to resellers or processors and any activity preparing a product for such first sale — a sale by a primary producer to final consumers shall be considered as marketing if it takes place in separate premises reserved for that purpose;

(f)

‘undertaking in difficulty’ means an undertaking that fulfils at least one of the following conditions:

(a)

the loan is secured by collateral covering at least 50 % of the loan and the loan does not exceed either EUR 50 000 and a duration of 5 years or EUR 25 000 and a duration of 10 years. If a loan is for less than those amounts and/or is granted for a period of less than 5 or 10 years respectively, the gross grant equivalent of that loan shall be calculated as a corresponding proportion of the applicable ceiling laid down in Article 3(2); or

(b)

the gross grant equivalent has been calculated on the basis of the reference rate applicable at the time of the grant.

(a)

the guarantee does not exceed 80 % of the underlying loan and either the amount guaranteed does not exceed EUR 75 000 and the duration of the guarantee does not exceed 5 years, or the amount guaranteed does not exceed EUR 37 500 and the duration of the guarantee does not exceed 10 years. If the amount guaranteed is lower than these amounts and/or the guarantee is for a period of less than 5 or 10 years respectively, the gross grant equivalent of that guarantee shall be calculated as a corresponding proportion of the applicable ceiling laid down in Article 3(2); or

(b)

the gross grant equivalent has been calculated on the basis of safe-harbour premiums laid down in a Commission notice (17); or

(c)

before being implemented, the methodology to calculate the gross grant equivalent of the guarantee has been accepted following notification of this methodology to the Commission under any regulation adopted by the Commission in the State aid area applicable at the time, and the approved methodology explicitly addresses the type of guarantee and the type of underlying transaction at stake in the context of the application of this Regulation.

(a)

the total amount of de minimis aid granted in the Member State concerned in accordance with this Regulation during the previous calendar year, broken down by economic sector and by size (small, medium-sized or large enterprise) of the beneficiaries;

(b)

the total number of beneficiaries of de minimis aid granted in the Member State concerned in accordance with this Regulation during the previous calendar year, broken down by economic sector and by size (small, medium-sized or large enterprise) of the beneficiaries;

(c)

any other information concerning the application of this Regulation required by the Commission and specified in due time before the report is submitted.

6.8.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 227/12

6.8.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 227/14

6.8.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 227/15

6.8.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 227/16

1.

On 31 July 2013, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertaking 3i Group plc (‘3i Group’, United Kingdom) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the undertaking Barclays Infrastructure Funds Management Limited (‘BIFM’, United Kingdom) by way of purchase of shares.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

3.

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the EC Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under the EC Merger Regulation (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.

4.

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number COMP/M.6966 — 3i Group/Barclays Infrastructure Funds Management, to the following address:

6.8.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 227/17

1.

Common Position 2002/402/CFSP (1) calls upon the Union to freeze the funds and economic resources of the members of the Al-Qaida organisation and other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with them, as referred to in the list drawn up pursuant to UNSCR 1267 (1999) and 1333 (2000) to be updated regularly by the UN Committee established pursuant to UNSCR 1267 (1999).

The list drawn up by this UN Committee comprises:

Acts or activities indicating that an individual, group, undertaking, or entity is ‘associated with’ Al-Qaida include:

2.

The UN Committee decided on 23 July 2013 to add Abu Mohammed Al-Jawlani to the relevant list. Abu Mohammed Al-Jawlani may submit at any time a request to the UN Ombudsperson, together with any supporting documentation, for the decision to include them in the UN list referred to above, to be reconsidered. Such request should be sent to the following address:

See for more information at http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/delisting.shtml

3.

Further to the UN decision referred to in paragraph 2, the Commission has adopted Regulation (EU) No 754/2013 (2), which amends Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 imposing certain specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities associated with the Al-Qaida network (3). The amendment, made pursuant to Article 7(1)(a) and 7a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 881/2002, adds Abu Mohammed Al-Jawlani to the list in Annex I of that Regulation (‘Annex I’).

The following measures of Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 apply to the individuals and entities included in Annex I:

4.

Article 7a of Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 (5) provides for a review process where observations on the grounds for listing are submitted by those listed. Individuals and entities added to Annex I by Regulation (EU) No 754/2013 may make a request for the grounds for their listing to the Commission. This request should be sent to:

5.

The attention of the individuals and entities concerned is also drawn to the possibility of challenging Regulation (EU) No 754/2013 before the General Court of the European Union, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the fourth and sixth paragraphs of Article 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

6.

For good order, the attention of the individuals and entities included in Annex I is drawn to the possibility of making an application to the competent authorities in the relevant Member State(s), as listed in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 881/2002, in order to obtain an authorisation to use frozen funds and economic resources for essential needs or specific payments in accordance with Article 2a of that Regulation.