Voorstel Commissie: subsidies lager dan 200.000 euro is geen 'staatssteun' (en)

The European Commission has presented a revised version of new draft `de minimis' rules exempting small subsidies from the notification obligation under EC Treaty state aid rules. The new version takes account of comments made during public consultation on an initial proposal presented in March 2006 (see IP/06/283 ). The Commission proposes that subsidies of €200,000 or less will not constitute state aid. The exemption is limited to measures for which the inherent state aid amount can be calculated precisely in advance. Guarantees will be covered, under the revised proposal, to the extent that the amount of the underlying loan does not exceed € 1.7 million. Member States and other stakeholders will now be given a second opportunity to comment on the proposal before it is definitively adopted by the Commission later this year. Revision of the de minimis rules constitutes one of the cornerstones of the State Aid Action Plan (see IP/05/680 and MEMO/05/195 ), designed to simplify the state aid rules, to refine the economic analysis of subsidies and to allow the Commission to concentrate its enforcement on the most distortive cases.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes i said: "We have listened carefully to the Member States' and stakeholders' views on our earlier draft and we now propose creating a safe harbour tailor-made for guarantee schemes for small and medium sized enterprises. This should allow Member States to boost the competitiveness of such companies without adversely affecting competition. However, in order to avoid abuses, non-transparent forms of aid must remain excluded from the Regulation."

According to the current Commission Regulation on de minimis aid (see IP/00/1415), financial support not exceeding €100,000 over a period of three years in favour of a given company is deemed to have no substantial effect on competition and trade between Member States, and therefore not to constitute state aid. The increase of the ceiling to €200,000, up from € 150.000 in the March 2006 proposal, takes into account economic developments since the de minimis ceiling was last increased, as well as likely developments between now and the expiry date of the new Regulation.

Taking into account numerous comments made during the consultation process, the latest proposal inter alia extends the scope of the exemption to the marketing and processing of agricultural products and to the transport sector, with the exception of the road transport sector. The exclusion of the road transport sector from the de minimis regulation does however not put into question the Commission's favourable approach as regards the compatibility with state aid rules of necessary and proportionate incentives for the purchase of cleaner and more environmentally friendly vehicles.

The de minimis rule will be limited to transparent types of aid, where it is possible to determine the precise amount of aid in advance. As compared to the earlier draft proposal, more precise guidance is given as regards the status of loans, capital injections, risk capital and guarantees. Given the economic importance of the latter type of measures, the new proposal creates a safe harbour covering guarantee schemes as long as the total amount of the loans underlying the guarantees is no higher than €1.7 million. This will allow Member States to implement guarantee schemes in favour of SMEs without red tape and under legally secure conditions. In this respect, the proposal complements the Guidelines on Risk Capital published this summer (see IP/06/1015). Simultaneously, the cap on the total amount of the loans underlying the guarantees ensures that the system will not be abused.

This draft will be sent to the Member States for a second consultation, in order to allow them to make further comments on the latest proposal. The Commission intends to adopt and publish the final version of the new Commission Regulation before the end of the year, so ensuring that it enters into force in January 2007. The proposal will be published on the Commission's website to allow stakeholders to express further views:

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/state_aid/overview/sar.html

The de minimis proposal forms part of the Commission's implementation of its June 2005 State Aid Action Plan (see IP/05/680 and MEMO/05/195). The Plan outlined the guiding principles for a comprehensive reform of state aid rules over the next five years. In particular the Plan set out how the Commission intends to use EC Treaty state aid rules to encourage Member States to contribute to the Strategy for Growth and Jobs by reducing overall aid levels while focusing remaining aid on improving the competitiveness of EU industry, creating sustainable jobs, ensuring social and regional cohesion, and improving public services.