Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 68/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to training aid

(2005/C 316/04)

(Text with EEA relevance)

Aid No: XT 10/03

Member State: United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland

Region: 32 Counties of the island of Ireland — Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland

Title of aid scheme or name of company receiving an individual aid: FOCUS

Legal basis: British/Irish Agreement Act 1999, Section 2.3 Part 7 of Annex 2 of the Act empowers InterTradeIreland to invest, lend or grant aid for the purposes of its function

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

2002: GBP 25 400

2003: GBP 25 400

Maximum total funded element

2002: GBP 254 000

2003: GBP 254 000

Notes:

20 projects will be established and implemented during 2002-2004. Cost per project is GBP 25 400 over 12-month duration. The GBP 25 400 per project is paid in quarterly instalments over the 12-month period. Annual expenditure for the overall FOCUS scheme of 20 projects is calculated on the basis that the projects will commence mid-2002 and be completed mid-2003. Therefore, spend is apportioned across the two years

Total funding element for 20 projects over 2 years = GBP 508 000. This represents 65 % of the total project cost with the remaining 35 % attributed by the participating enterprises

Maximum aid intensity: Up to a maximum of GBP 25 400 assistance per project per annum representing 65 % aid intensity

Date of implementation, duration: Proposed scheme to run for 2 years from date of approval.

Individual companies will be eligible for assistance for a maximum of 12 months

Objective of aid: The objective of the aid is to train high-calibre graduates in sales and marketing with a view to preparing them for senior management. The training is general as it is generic to all participating graduates and provides skills which are transferable across industry.

It is intended that the FOCUS programme will provide participating graduates with part or full accreditation towards membership of relevant professional bodies, such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing and/ or the Marketing Institute of Ireland

Economic sector(s) concerned: All sectors

Name and address of the granting authority: