Download General Block Exemptions, De minimis and SME recommendation

General Block Exemptions, De minimis and
SME recommendation
State aid legislation
European Commission, DG Competition,
Unit A.5 International relations
Explanatory screening
Brussels, 2/04/2014
General Block exemptions - Principles
• Exemption from notification requirement (including
for ad hoc aid used to supplement regional &
employment aid)
• All conditions of the regulation must be met
• General and specific conditions
• Specific aid intensities per type of aid
• Reference to the regulation
• Individual notification thresholds
General Block exemptions - Scope
• Regional aid
• SME investment and employment aid
• Aid for the creation of enterprises by female
entrepreneurs
• Aid for environmental protection
• Aid for consultancy in favour of SMEs and SME
participation in fairs
• Aid in the form of risk capital
• Aid for R&D&I
• Training aid and aid for disadvantaged or disabled
workers
General Block exemptions - Exclusions
• Sectoral regional aid schemes
• Ad hoc aid to large enterprises
• Aid to an undertaking subject to an outstanding
recovery order
• Aid to undertakings in difficulty
• Aid to Export-related activities & for the use of
domestic goods
• Fisheries, Agriculture, Coal, Steel, Shipbuilding and
Synthetic fibres
General Block exemptions – General
conditions
• Transparent aid (not capital injections)
• Before tax
• Grant equivalent (reference rate at the granting of
the aid)
• Incentive effect:
presumption for SMEs, disabled workers,
disadvantaged workers, environmental taxes and risk
capital
material increase for large enterprises
fiscal measure adopted prior to the work and with
objective criteria
General Block exemptions - Transparency
•
•
•
•
•
Summary sheet to the Commission
Publication on the internet by MS
Monitoring by the Commission
MS to maintain records
Annual reporting
General Block exemptions - Cumulation
• Aid from all sources to be considered
• Possible where different eligible costs
• No cumulation with de minimis (except for disabled
workers)
• Reduction of aid in case of cumulation with Risk
capital (exception aid for young innovative
enterprises)
De minimis regulation
• 107(1) criteria deemed not to be met
• No notification requirement
• Amount granted to any one undertaking over 3
fiscal years < EUR 200 000 (EUR 100 000 in Road
freight transport vehicles
• Gross grant equivalent, transparent aid (but
guarantees, loans, risk capital and capital
injections in certain conditions)
• Regardless of the form, the objective, the source
• Cumulation if ceiling respected
• Monitoring by the MS (declaration by beneficiary or
central registry)
De minimis regulation - exclusions
• Fisheries and agriculture
• Export-related activities and aid to the use of
domestic goods
SME recommendation
• Enterprise: any entity engaged in economic activity
• Micro: people < 10 and annual turnover < EUR 2
million
• Small: people < 50 and annual turnover < EUR 10
million
• Medium: people < 250 and annual turnover < EUR
50 million (or annual balance sheet < EUR 43
million)
• Two consecutive periods for a change
SME recommendation
• Autonomous enterprise
• Partner enterprise (25% or more of the capital,
exceptions: venture capital companies,
universities, institutional investors and local
authorities)
• Linked enterprise (50% or more of the capital,
appointment of a majority of the governance
structures, dominant influence)
• Enterprise with 25% of public shareholding is not
SME