18.8.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 192/5

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Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production of agricultural products and amending Regulation (EC) No 70/2001

(2007/C 192/08)

XA Number: XA 10/07

Member State: Netherlands

Region: Provincie Limburg

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving individual aid: Subsidieverordening Inrichting Landelijk Gebied Limburg

—   Paragraph 1.5: Improving knowledge and innovation in agriculture

—   Paragraph 1.6: Farmers' expertise groups

—   Paragraph 1.7: Idea development with expertise vouchers

—   Paragraph 1.8: Product-market combinations (PMCs)

—   Paragraph 1.10: Sustainable soil-based agricultural production

—   Paragraph 1.11: Study of the application of ‘new manure’ as a substitute for artificial fertiliser

—   Paragraph 1.12: Exploring cooperation on landscape quality and promoting the marketing of local produce

—   Paragraph 1.13: Applying expertise to improve environmental quality

—   Paragraph 1.15: Sustainable farm model, dairy farms

—   Paragraph 1.16: Bioenergy

—   Paragraph 1.18: Demonstration farms self-sufficient in energy

Legal basis: Artikel 11, lid 3 Wet Inrichting Landelijk Gebied, juncto subsidieverordening inrichting Landelijk Gebied

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

—	Paragraph 1.5: EUR 250 000 for the 2007-2013 period

—	Paragraph 1.6: EUR 1 000 000 for the 2007-2013 period

—	Paragraph 1.7: EUR 600 000 for the 2007-2013 period

—	Paragraph 1.8: EUR 3 000 000 for the 2007-2013 period

—	Paragraph 1.10: EUR 1 980 000 for the 2007-2013 period

—	Paragraph 1.11: EUR 300 000 for the 2007-2013 period

—	Paragraph 1.12: EUR 30 000 for the 2007-2013 period

—	Paragraph 1.13: EUR 200 000 for the 2007-2013 period

—	Paragraph 1.15: EUR 150 000 for the 2007-2013 period

—	Paragraph 1.16: EUR 745 000 for the 2007-2013 period

—	Paragraph 1.18: EUR 90 000 for the 2007-2013 period

(These amounts are an estimation of the maximum share of the available funds that will go to farmers. Most of these paragraphs will, in fact, also form the basis for aid to be granted to non-farmers (other entrepreneurs under the de minimis rule and non-entrepreneurs))

Maximum aid intensity:

—	Paragraph 1.5: a maximum of 50 % of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of EUR 50 000 per structure per year.

—	Paragraph 1.6: a maximum of 80 % of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of EUR 63 000 per expertise group.

—	Paragraph 1.7: a maximum of 50 % of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of EUR 3 250 per enterprise per year.

—	Paragraph 1.8: a maximum of 50 % of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of EUR 25 000 per project.

—	Paragraph 1.10: a maximum of 90 % of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of EUR 900 per ha.

—	Paragraph 1.11: a maximum of 75 % of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of EUR 100 000 per project.

—	Paragraph 1.12: a maximum of 50 % of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of EUR 5 000 per exploratory study.

—	Paragraph 1.13: a maximum of 60 % of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of EUR 23 000 per project.

—	Paragraph 1.15: a maximum of 75 % of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of EUR 50 000 per project.

—	Paragraph 1.16: a maximum of 75 % of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of EUR 50 000 per project.

—	Paragraph 1.18: a maximum of 50 % of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of EUR 30 000 per project.

Date of implementation: Grants will be awarded only after Subsidieverordening Inrichting Landelijk Gebied Limburg has been approved by the Minister for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in accordance with Article 11(3) of the Wet Inrichting Landelijk Gebied and not before this Subsidy Ordinance has been notified in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: From 2007 to 31 December 2013 inclusive

Objective of aid:

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Paragraph 1.5: aid applies to the costs of organising training under Article 15(2)(a), and/or the hiring of outside expertise for know-how exchange aimed at new innovative ideas. Hiring outside expertise is a consultancy service which does not constitute a continuous or periodic activity nor relate to the enterprise's usual operating expenditure, in accordance with Article 15(2)(c).

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Paragraph 1.6: aid applies to the costs of organising training under Article 15(2)(a), and/or the hiring of experts for advice to improve skills and enterprise. Hiring outside expertise is a consultancy service which does not constitute a continuous or periodic activity nor relate to the enterprise's usual operating expenditure, in accordance with Article 15(2)(c).

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Paragraph 1.7: aid applies to the costs of replacement services during the absence of the entrepreneur in connection with training in accordance with Article 15(2)(a) and/or to the hiring of outside expertise for drawing up business plans and feasibility studies. Hiring outside expertise is a consultancy service which does not constitute a continuous or periodic activity nor relate to the enterprise's usual operating expenditure, in accordance with Article 15(2)(c).

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Paragraph 1.8: aid applies to the costs of replacement services during the absence of the entrepreneur in connection with training in accordance with Article 15(2)(a) and/or to the hiring of outside expertise for the development of innovative ideas. Hiring outside expertise is a consultancy service which does not constitute a continuous or periodic activity nor relate to the enterprise's usual operating expenditure, in accordance with Article 15(2)(c), aimed at forming product-market combinations.

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Paragraph 1.10: aid applies to the costs of replacement services during the absence of the entrepreneur in connection with training in accordance with Article 15(2)(a) and/or the costs of consultancy services which do not constitute a continuous or periodic activity nor relate to the enterprise's usual operating expenditure, in accordance with Article 15(2)(c), aimed at making soil-based agriculture more sustainable and improving biodiversity.

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Paragraph 1.11: aid applies to the costs of replacement services during the absence of the entrepreneur in connection with training in accordance with Article 15(2)(a) and/or the costs of consultancy services which do not constitute a continuous or periodic activity nor relate to the enterprise's usual operating expenditure, in accordance with Article 15(2)(c), aimed at harnessing the opportunities for processing and applying digestate as a substitute for artificial fertiliser.

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Paragraph 1.12: aid applies to the costs of organising training and replacement services during the absence of the entrepreneur in connection with training in accordance with Article 15(2)(a) and/or the costs of consultancy services which do not constitute a continuous or periodic activity nor relate to the enterprise's usual operating expenditure, in accordance with Article 15(2)(c), aimed at exploring opportunities for regional cooperation between operators.

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Paragraph 1.13: aid applies to the costs of organising training and replacement services during the absence of the entrepreneur in connection with training in accordance with Article 15(2)(a) and/or the costs of consultancy services which do not constitute a continuous or periodic activity nor relate to the enterprise's usual operating expenditure, in accordance with Article 15(2)(c), aimed at developing expertise and studies for soil-based agriculture projects.

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Paragraph 1.15: aid applies to the costs of replacement services during the absence of the entrepreneur in connection with training in accordance with Article 15(2)(a) and/or the costs of consultancy services which do not constitute a continuous or periodic activity nor relate to the enterprise's usual operating expenditure, in accordance with Article 15(2)(c), aimed at investigating new forms of organisation for sustainable dairy farms.

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Paragraph 1.16: aid applies to the costs of organising training and replacement services during the absence of the entrepreneur in connection with training in accordance with Article 15(2)(a) and/or the costs of consultancy services which do not constitute a continuous or periodic activity nor relate to the enterprise's usual operating expenditure, in accordance with Article 15(2)(c), aimed at studies looking into the generation of energy from biomass.

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Paragraph 1.18: aid applies to the costs of organising training and replacement services during the absence of the entrepreneur in connection with training in accordance with Article 15(2)(a) and/or the costs of consultancy services which do not constitute a continuous or periodic activity nor relate to the enterprise's usual operating expenditure, in accordance with Article 15(2)(c), aimed at studies looking into energy self-sufficiency at individual farm level.

Economic sector(s) concerned: The aid scheme applies to small and medium-sized agricultural holdings (farms) active in the primary production of agricultural products.

Name and address of the granting authority:

Provincie Limburg

Limburglaan 10

Postbus 5700

6202 MA Maastricht

Nederland

Internet address: www.limburg.nl

Other information: —

Aid No: XA 38/07

Member State: The Netherlands

Region: —

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving individual aid: Investeringen op het terrein van energiebesparing. Titel 5, § 1, van het Openstellingsbesluit LNV-subsidies

Legal basis: De artikelen 2, 4 en 7 van de Kaderwet LNV-subsidies en de artikelen 1:3, 1:8, 1:15 en 1:16 van de Regeling LNV-subsidies

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

2007: EUR 8 300 000,00

2008: EUR 14 500 000,00

2009: EUR 8 900 000,00

2010: EUR 4 800 000,00

Maximum aid intensity: 25 %

Date of implementation: Applications may be submitted from 14 May until 25 May 2007. In subsequent years, applications may be submitted on a date to be indicated in the Official Gazette.

Duration of scheme or individual aid award:

Objective of aid: Primary objective: to reduce production costs. Secondary objective: to preserve and improve the natural environment. The subsidy is based on Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006. Investment directed at saving energy is eligible.

Economic sector(s) concerned: Agricultural holdings, in particular glasshouse horticultural holdings

Name and address of the granting authority:

De Minister van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit

Bezuidenhoutseweg 73

2500 EK Den Haag

Nederland

Website: www.minlnv.nl/loket

Other information: This aid scheme is a follow-up to the one-off aid grant notified to the European Commission under No XA 99/06.

XA number: XA 70/07

Member State: Spain

Title of aid scheme: Ayudas para compensar los daños extraordinarios causados por la sequía en las explotaciones ganaderas extensivas

Legal basis: Orden APA/…/2007, de … de mayo, por la que se establecen las bases reguladoras y se aprueba la convocatoria de ayudas para compensar pérdidas extraordinarias producidas por la sequía en pastos en la campaña 2005/2006

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme: EUR 3,5 million in 2007

Maximum aid intensity: The aid which each beneficiary might receive, plus compensation paid by insurance bodies, plus any aid which might have been received from the Autonomous Community administration, will not exceed 80 % of the recorded losses on the farm, as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.

The aid will be calculated taking into account the information on the vegetation index for the areas affected, in the period between 1 February and 30 June 2006. Eligible areas will be those where the vegetation index was below the quantity which results from deducting 0,8 times the standard deviation from the average index. This equates to damage greater than 30 % of normal production.

The aid quantities will be:

If, throughout the entire period under consideration (15 ten-day periods), the vegetation index was below the quantity which results from deducting 0,8 times the standard deviation from the average index, the aid will therefore be EUR 48/animal for cattle and horses, and EUR 7,2/animal for sheep and goats.

The aid for each recipient will be calculated taking into consideration the number of ten-day periods when this level of drought was recorded.

Once the aid has been calculated, ENESA [State Agricultural Insurance Body] will ask AGROSEGURO [Combined Agricultural Insurance Group] to certify the compensation which may have been received from the insurance bodies. Similarly, it will ask the Autonomous Communities concerned to certify the aid which they may have granted for the damage. The total aid must not exceed 80 % of the recorded losses on the farm. Should the limit be exceeded, the aid calculated under the above Order will be reduced in line with that percentage.

Date of implementation: The aid may be granted from when the Order enters into force, within no more than 6 months.

Objective of aid: The objective is to compensate livestock farmers for business losses incurred on affected farms as a result of having to supplement livestock feed following the loss of pasture areas through drought.

It should be pointed out that the agricultural insurance framework includes insurance which covers the risk of drought in pasture areas, underwriting losses in the case of extreme drought or — and this amounts to the same thing — damage exceeding 50 % of production (when the vegetation index is below the quantity which results from deducting one times the standard deviation from the average vegetation index).

It was found that, in certain districts, the damage exceeded 30 % of production and was not covered by the insurance policies. It is therefore necessary to establish aid to compensate livestock farmers for these losses.

This aid is established under Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006, relating to ‘Aid for losses due to adverse climatic events’, and meets the provisions in Article 11(2) to (6), (9) and (10).

Sector(s) concerned: This aid is intended for the extensive livestock farming sector in the Autonomous Communities of Andalusia, Aragon, Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Castile-La Mancha, Castile-Leon, Extremadura and Murcia.

Name and address of the granting authority:

Entidad Estatal de Seguros Agrarios (ENESA)

Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación

C/ Miguel Ángel, 23 — 5a planta

E-28010 Madrid

Internet address: enesa@mapya.es

Aid number: XA 71/07

Member State: Spain

Region: Catalonia

Title of aid scheme or name of the company receiving an individual aid: Subvenciones para la incentivación de la mejora de la eficiencia energética en invernaderos agrícolas

Legal basis: Orden ARP/501/2006, de 25 de octubre, por la que se aprueban las bases reguladoras de las subvenciones para la incentivación de la mejora de la eficiencia energética en invernaderos agrícolas, y se convocan las correspondientes al año 2006 (DOGC 4751 de 31.10.2006)

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: 2006: EUR 450 000

Maximum aid intensity: The maximum subsidy per application will be 30 % of the eligible investment and may be increased in the following circumstances:

5 % when the applicant is a young farmer,

2 % when the applicant is a woman.

Date of implementation:

Duration of scheme or individual aid award:

Objective of aid: The objective of the aid is to assist investment in agricultural holdings for the purpose of improving energy efficiency in greenhouses (Article 4).

Investment relating to the improvement of installations, heating systems and materials is eligible, as is any improvement which involves a quantifiable saving and improvement in energy efficiency in greenhouses.

Eligible costs are those listed in Article 4(4)(a) and (b), i.e. those relating to construction, acquisition or improvement of installations, plus those relating to the purchase or lease-purchase of equipment and machinery needed to improve greenhouse efficiency.

Sector(s) concerned: Production of products listed in Annex I to the Treaty, except for fishery and aquaculture products covered by Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 and products falling under CN codes 4502, 4503 and 4504 (cork products)

Name and address of the granting authority:

Departamento de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca

Generalitat de Catalunya

Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 612-614

E-08007 Barcelona

Web address: https://www.gencat.net/diari_c/4751/06297022.htm

Other information: —

XA number: XA 74/07

Member State: Spain

Region: Castilla-La Mancha

Title of aid scheme: Ayudas para paliar los daños ocasionados en el viñedo afectado por las heladas acaecidas en los primeros meses de 2006

Legal basis: Orden de 15.3.2007, de la Consejería de Agricultura, por la que se declaran como fenómeno climático adverso asimilable a desastre natural las heladas acaecidas en los dos primeros meses de 2006 en determinados municipios de Castilla-La Mancha y Orden de 17.4.2007, de la Consejería de Agricultura, por la que se establecen las bases reguladoras de la concesión de ayudas para paliar los daños ocasionados en el viñedo afectado por las heladas acaecidas en los primeros meses de 2006

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 1 600 000 over four years

Maximum aid intensity: 47 % of the damage

Date of implementation:

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Four years following the Order's entry into force

Objective of aid: To compensate for the reduction in income from the sale of the product resulting from the adverse climatic event, and to help with the costs met by the farmer as a result of the event (cost of repositioning vines, cost of pruning and regeneration of frozen parts of vines), in accordance with Article 11(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.

Sector(s) concerned: Crop production: vines

Name and address of the granting authority:

Consejería de Agricultura

C/ Pintor Matías Moreno, no 4

E-45004 Toledo

Internet address: provisionally at:

www.jccm.es/agricul/paginas/ayudas/agricultura/vinedo.htm

once published, at:

www.jccm.es/cgi-bin/docm.php3

XA number: XA 77/07

Member State: The Netherlands

Region: —

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving individual aid: Regeling LNV-subsidies (omschrijving steun: Beroepsopleiding en voorlichting voor primaire landbouwondernemingen, onderdeel collectieve adviezen)

Legal basis:

—	Regeling LNV-subsidies: artikel 1:2, artikel 1:3, artikel 1:20; artikel 2:1; artikel 2:3, eerste lid, aanhef en onderdeel a,

—	Openstellingsbesluit LNV-subsidies

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The aid scheme is funded from the top-up (EUR 11,32 million) for sheet 111 of the 2007-2013 Rural Development Programme

Maximum aid intensity: For agricultural holdings, 50 % of the costs of the consultancy service, up to a maximum of EUR 1 500 per year per farm

Date of implementation: The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Subsidies Scheme comes into force on 1 April 2007. No payments will be made before the 2007-2013 Rural Development Programme has been approved.

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Ends 31 December 2013

Objective of aid: The aid scheme applies to collective consultancy services that are not continuous or recurrent (as is the case for routine tax consultancy, regular legal services or advertising).

Within this framework, advice on farm development may be sought in the following areas only:

The aid scheme complies with Article 15(2)(c), (3) and (4) of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.

Sector(s) concerned: All agricultural holdings that produce products listed in Annex I to the EC Treaty

Name and address of the granting authority:

Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit

Postbus 20401

2500 EK Den Haag

Nederland

Internet address: www.minlnv.nl/loket

Other information: —

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