On Friday 5 April, the European Commission announced that, following an in-depth investigation launched in January 2021, it had concluded that investment aid granted by the Czech Republic to certain large national agricultural companies in 2017 and 2018 did not comply with EU State aid rules.
The aid in question was intended to support large companies in their investments in irrigation and the restructuring of orchards.
The granting of investment aid to companies is authorised under certain conditions. Specific additional conditions apply to aid granted to large companies in order to reduce the risk of unfair competition.
The European Commission concluded that certain large agricultural enterprises had benefited from aid under Czech exempted schemes by virtue of the Agricultural Block Exemption Regulation.
Only small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were eligible for the schemes in question.
The Commission found that some large companies which received aid in 2017 and 2018 were incorrectly classified as SMEs by the Czech authorities.
The Commission therefore concluded that the aid received by these large agricultural undertakings could not be compatible with the block exempted schemes.
The Czech Republic must now recover the incompatible State aid plus interest. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)