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 Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production of agricultural products and amending Regulation (EC) No 70/2001

2009/C 261/07

Aid No: XA 175/09

Member State: Spain

Region: Principado de Asturias

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Subvenciones para servicios de asesoría en las pequeñas y medianas explotaciones agrarias del Principado de Asturias dedicadas a la producción primaria de productos agrícolas, prestados por las Agrupaciones para Tratamientos Integrados en Agricultura (ATRIAS)

Legal basis: Bases reguladoras que regirán la concesión de subvenciones para servicios de asesoría en las pequeñas y medianas explotaciones agrarias del Principado de Asturias dedicadas a la producción primaria de productos agrícolas, prestados por las Agrupaciones para Tratamientos Integrados en Agricultura (ATRIAS)

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: In 2009 the maximum amount of aid will be EUR 90 000

Maximum aid intensity: The maximum aid intensity is 100 %

Date of implementation: From the date on which the identification number of the exemption request is published on the website of the Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until December 2013

Objective of aid: To cover expenditure by ATRIAS (Associations for Integrated Treatment in Agriculture) which provide technical advisory services to small and medium-sized agricultural holdings in Asturias engaged in the primary production of agricultural products, to implement programmes for the integrated control of harmful agents that cause damage to crops.

Article 15(2)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 applies.

In accordance with Article 15(3) of the Regulation, the aid will be granted in kind in the form of subsidised services provided by third parties and will not involve any direct payments to producers.

As provided for in Article 15(4) of the Regulation, the advisory service provided for the integrated control of harmful agents will be accessible to all small and medium-sized agricultural holdings in Asturias engaged in the primary production of agricultural products; membership of such groups or organisations will not be a precondition for using the service.

Sector(s) concerned: Primary production of agricultural products

Name and address of the granting authority:

Website: The text of the general rules governing the aid can be found at http://www.asturias.es on the following page:

http://www.asturias.es/Asturias/descargas/PDF DE TEMAS/Agricultura/atrias_2009.pdf

Other information: —

Aid No: XA 179/09

Member State: Spain

Region: Comunidad Valenciana (ES52)

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Orden … de la Conselleria de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, por la que se aprueban las bases reguladoras de las ayudas al cooperativismo agrario valenciano.

Applicable to the part of Article 9 (paragraphs 2.b and 3.c) relating to aid for investment in agricultural holdings by cooperatives which are exclusively SMEs

Legal basis: Orden … de la Conselleria de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, por la que se aprueban las bases reguladoras de las ayudas al cooperativismo agrario valenciano

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: For the whole period covered by the Ordinance:

Overall annual expenditure resulting from calls for applications under Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.

A maximum of 10 % of overall annual expenditure (e.g. EUR 240 000 for the call for applications in 2009). It is estimated that the percentage will be similar in subsequent calls for applications

Maximum aid intensity: 40 %

Date of implementation: From the date of publication of the registration number of the exemption request on the website of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development

Duration of scheme or individual aid award:

Objective of aid:

Sector(s) concerned: Primary production in the agriculture and livestock sectors

Name and address of the granting authority:

Website: http://www.agricultura.gva.es/especiales/ayudas_agrarias/pdf/borrador_orden_cooperativismo.pdf

Other information: —

Aid No: XA 198/09

Member State: Spain

Region: Navarra

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Ayudas a explotaciones ganaderas por la inmovilización de ganado o el vacío sanitario obligatorio en el marco de campañas de saneamiento ganadero

Legal basis: Orden Foral de la Consejera de Desarrollo Rural y Medio Ambiente, por la que se establecen las normas por las que se regulan las ayudas a las explotaciones ganaderas por la inmovilización de ganado o el vacío sanitario en el marco de campañas de saneamiento ganadero, y se aprueba la convocatoria para el año 2009

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 120 000

Maximum aid intensity: The maximum aid intensity will in no case exceed 100 % of the accredited losses

Date of implementation: The aid scheme will apply from the date on which the identification number of the exemption request provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 is published on the website of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: From 2009 to 31 December 2013

Objective of aid: The principal objective of the aid is to provide compensation for financial losses suffered by agricultural holdings following the compulsory immobilisation of livestock provided for in disease eradication programmes.

Article 10(2) Aid to compensate farmers for losses caused by animal diseases. Eligible costs: Article 10(2)(a)(ii) Aid for income losses due to quarantine obligations

Sector(s) concerned: Animal production and health

Name and address of the granting authority:

Website: http://www.cfnavarra.es/agricultura/COYUNTURA/AyudasEstado/pdfs/STNO09046%20OF.pdf

Other information: —

Aid No: XA 227/09

Member State: Spain

Region: Cataluña

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Ayudas para instalaciones de aprovechamiento de la energía solar térmica en el Marco del Programa de Energías Renovables

Legal basis: Orden ECF/XXX/2009, de xxx, por la que se aprueban las bases reguladoras para la concesión de las subvenciones en régimen reglado en el Marco del Programa de Energías Renovables, y se abre la convocatoria para el año 2009

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: The expenditure planned under the scheme is EUR 0,31 million per year

Maximum aid intensity: The maximum intensity is stipulated to be 37 %. The maximum amount of aid granted to a given company will not exceed EUR 400 000 over a period of three fiscal years. This sum may be increased to EUR 500 000 if the company is located in a less-favoured area or in areas referred to in Article 36(a)(i), (ii) or (iii) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005

Date of implementation: From the date of publication of the registration number of the request for exemption provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 on the website of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until April 2010

Objective of aid: The objective is the conservation and improvement of the natural environment, through promoting the adoption of renewable energy, particularly solar thermal energy.

Article 4. Investment in agricultural holdings. Eligible expenditure will include:

Costs connected with a leasing contract other than those listed in points (a) and (b), such as tax, the lessor’s margin, interest refinancing costs, overheads insurance, charges, etc. will not be considered eligible expenditure

Sector(s) concerned: Any subsector within the plant and animal production sectors

Name and address of the granting authority:

Website: http://www.gencat.cat/icaen/ajuts/orden_reglada_EEER2009.pdf

Other information: —

Aid No: XA 228/09

Member State: France

Region: Département de l'Allier

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: Aides du département de l'Allier en faveur d’un programme sanitaire dans les élevages

Legal basis:

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme or overall amount of individual aid granted to the company: EUR 180 000

Maximum aid intensity: 33 %

The aid will be granted as follows:

20 % of the cost of taking blood samples for IBR and BVD prophylaxis,

30 % of the cost of BVD analyses, bearing in mind that these analyses will involve BVD screening of one animal initially and then BVD screening of the herd,

33 % of the cost of screening for causes of miscarriages (only for illnesses included in the OIE list or in the Annex to Decision 90/424/EEC: Q fever, bluetongue and BVD for cattle; chlamydiosis, Q fever and bluetongue for sheep)

Date of implementation: From the date of publication of the registration number of the request for exemption on the website of the Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development

Duration of scheme or individual aid award: Until 31.12.2013

Objective of aid: The project is designed in accordance with Article 10 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006.

The General Council of Allier would like to encourage the drawing up of health programmes by the ‘Groupement de Défense Sanitaire du Cheptel Bourbonnais’ (GDSCB), a State-recognised society from the département, in order to implement the planned action under the terms of Article C225-1 of the Rural Code.

The aim of these programmes is to guarantee better public health by improving the health quality of cattle and sheep with a programme of screening and support for sickness:

In 2001, the General Council gave a commitment to the GDSCB regarding the implementation of the IBR Plan. This screening plan followed on from the introduction of a certification scheme on a national level by the IBR (STC) in late 1999. This certification was an innovative operation aimed at increasing the economic value of the animals. Since the campaign of 2003-2004, all cattle farms in the département are obliged by prefectural decree to carry out an annual screening for IBR in their cattle. Furthermore, in view of the reduction in prophylaxis brucellosis since 2005, the département intervened in the case of blood samples taken on a complementary basis outside of the prophylaxis brucellosis campaign after 2006.

BVD is an illness affecting the mucus membrane of cattle and it can have significant economic and health implications as far as breeding is concerned. The GDSCB therefore suggested the implementation of a protocol of screening and identifying so-called IPI animals, or lifelong carriers of the virus. This collective step should allow the spreading of the virus to be controlled, while limiting the economic consequences in cattle farms and responding to the health demands of livestock farmers, especially in the West. In particular this screening will take place when new animals are added to livestock. The département has played a part in the BVD analyses since 2006.

The 2007-2008 campaign revealed a growing concern regarding the increased number of miscarriages on private farms and the link with the establishing of bluetongue (BT) in our département. So as to avoid a hasty conclusion regarding the causes of the miscarriages and to miss a serious problem by attributing miscarriages to BT, the GDSCB would like to offer an analysis kit to livestock farmers allowing them to identify the abortive illness and in this way put into place curative solutions and suitable preventive measures.

The protocol will consist of taking a sample from the female who miscarried or from the placenta following a second miscarriage on the farm within a 12-month period. These kits will detect the following illnesses:

It will be ensured that farmers will benefit from these subsidies only if their farm complies with the Community criteria for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Subject to this caveat, the aid will be granted in the form of subsidised services available to all livestock farmers regardless of whether they belong to a producers’ organisation or another structure

Sector(s) concerned: Cattle and sheep farms

Name and address of the granting authority:

Website: http://www.allier.fr/398-programme-detaille-d-intervention-du-cg03.htm

Other information: —