Commissie stemt in met Duitse staatssteun in melksector (en)
The European Commission has today authorised Germany under EU state aid rules to pay national aid worth a total of € 40 million to the dairy group Alois Müller GmbH&Co KG. The aid will finance investment in processing and marketing of milk and milk products in Leppersdorf (Saxony). The main objectives of this large-scale investment project are the support of innovative processing methods and technologies, the promotion and development of new and improved products and the reduction of environmental pollution. The project will be implemented until December 2004.
The state aid, in the form of direct grants, will be financed by the Free State of Saxony on the basis of the Investment Grant Law (Investitionszulagengesetz), an aid scheme already been approved by the Commission. However, to be in accordance with the European Union (EU) guidelines for State aid in the agriculture sector(1), aids for investments with eligible expenses in excess of € 25 million must be specifically notified and approved by the Commission.
The total eligible costs of the investment project comprise around € 176 million. Hence, this is the biggest individual investment project the Commission has approved under state aid rules in the agriculture sector within the last 3 years.
For this project, the Land ;of Saxony has also applied for aid within the framework of the Structural Funds Regulation No 1260/1999(2), which is partly financed by the EU. Since the investments will be carried out in an objective 1-region, the total aid amount (public expenditure financed by the EU and by the Member State) may not exceed € 88 million, which is 50% of the total eligible cost. The application for EU money under the Structural Funds, however, has not been approved yet.
The text of the decisions will be made available on the Internet at
<A onclick="popup(this.onclick="popup(this.href+'&noframes=1',0,0);return false" href+'&noframes=1',0,0);return false" HREF="http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids/agriculture_2003.htm">http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids/agriculture_2003.htm
once Member States have indicated whether they want parts of the decisions deleted for reasons of confidentiality. The decision can be found under the aid number N 265/03.
(1)Community Guidelines for state aid in the agriculture sector, OJ C 232 of 12 August 2000, p. 19.
(2)Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds