Brussels, 10/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission adopted a new regulation on Wednesday, simplifying the procedures for granting State aid in the field of agriculture. This new regime will allow Member States to grant several types of agricultural State aid without first having to ask the Commission's approval. This block exemption will help to speed up the implementation of new agricultural State aid, and will make it easier to apply national programmes to improve standards in environment, animal well-being and hygiene matters. The Commission states that this regulation will not change the regulation on State aid in substance, and that it should not be considered as a "renationalisation" of aid for farmers. The new regulation will be published in the Official Journal, and will enter into force twenty days later. It will be applicable until the end of 2006.
The following aid will no longer need to be notified to the Commission, as long as the specific conditions are met:
- the rate of aid to investment can be as high as 40% for farmers and 50% in less-favoured areas and 10% more can be granted to young farmers. Aid does not need to be limited to specific agricultural products (for example, a specific aid regime only applicable to the pork meat sector is not included in the regulation). Aids to increase production capacities are exempt up to increases of 20% measured in livestock units or cultivated surface. Aid of up to 60% (or 75% in less-favoured areas) may be granted for investments concerning the protection and improvement of the environment, improvement of hygiene conditions in animal product processing companies or for the well-being of livestock, insofar as these investments go beyond minimum EU requirements. Aid to investment of up to 40% may be granted to companies active in the processing and marketing of agricultural products, up to 50% in Objective 1 areas.
- Aid may reach 100% for costs incurred in the conservation of the countryside and traditional buildings, and may include reasonable payment for the work carried out by the farmer, to a total of 10,000 EUR per annum.
- Aid reaching 30,000 EUR may be granted to help young farmers get established, and aid may be available for early retirement, as long as the cessation of farming activities is for good.
- Start-up aid may be granted to producer groups or associations, as long as the total amount of aid does not exceed 100,000 EUR and be reduced gradually over a period of five years (100% of start-up costs the first year, with a reduction of at least 20% for each successive year).
- Aid for the livestock sector lay be granted up to 100% for administrative costs entailed in maintenance of herd books, 70% for tests determining the quality or genetic yield of the livestock, 40% for investment in animal reproduction centres and 100% to cover the costs of TSE tests (with an upper limit of 40 EUR per test carried out on bovine animals slaughtered for human consumption).
- aid for insurance premiums may be granted if it is limited to 80% of the cost of insurance covering damage caused by natural disasters.
- Aid of up to 100,000 EUR may be granted per beneficiary over a three-year period to encourage the production and sales of high-quality agricultural products.
- Aid of up to 100,000 per beneficiary over a three-year period may be granted for technical assistance services in the field of agriculture, especially for education and training of farmers and agricultural workers.
The Commission is also putting in place new rules on transparency. A summery of all State aid exempted, per Member State, will be published on the Internet five days before the payment of aid begins.
The Commission has also adopted a proposal on "de minimis" aid in the fields of agriculture and fishing. The object of this proposal (the implementation of which is planned for late 2004) is to exempt Member States from their obligation to inform the Commission of aid up to 3,000 EUR per farmer or fisherman over a period of three years.