Brussels, 28/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - During discussions of an item under any other business at the meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on Monday 28 October, a declaration signed by 17 countries (including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Austria, Hungary and Greece) was presented, criticising the proposals of the European Commission regarding a new regulation on de minimis state aid in the agricultural sector. These countries take the view that the new de minimis regulation presented by the Commission on 6 August of this year goes against the principle of administrative simplification (particularly due to the idea of creating a central register and submitting annual reports). In addition, these countries are calling for the individual threshold for de minimis aid, in other words the threshold above which state aid must be notified to the European Commission, to be increased to €15,000 (rather than the €10,000 proposed by the European Commission). (LC/transl.fl)