Brussels, 02/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 4 April, the European Commission is set to adopt a proposal which will allow the limits for state aid which may be granted in the agricultural sector to be increased without having to be notified to the Commission. In other words, this so-called “de minimis” aid has been automatically agreed to by the Commission, as long as it does not exceed this limit. The proposal is to be examined twice by the experts of the member states of the EU and put forward for evaluation by interested third parties. After this, the Commission will accept this regulation before the end of the year, in the light of discussions with the member states.
Under the proposed regulation, which has still to be enshrined by the College of Commissioners, the threshold for “de minimis” aid will rise from €3000 to €6000 per beneficiary over three years. Over the same tri-annual period, this aid must not exceed 0.6% of the total annual agricultural production of the country, compared to 0.3% in the current regulation, which dates from 2004. These new proposals are to be applicable from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2013.
New regulation will clarify the type of aid which can be paid, “which will increase the margin of manoeuvre of the member states to allocate support without distorting competition”, the Commission points out. In this way, aid which is dependent on a certain price or volume for product on the market would not be covered by the de minimis rules; nor would aid granted to product export operations, nor aid which grants a preference to national foodstuffs (to the detriment of imported products). Furthermore, the obligation to notify will be in place for all support in favour of businesses in difficulty. The limit of 0.6% of national production not to be exceeded by the cumulative amount of aid over three years will be €389 million in France, €274 million in Italy, €264 million in Germany, and just under €263 million in Spain. (lc)