Consultation on the Commission services first draft of the new de minimis regulation replacing regulation No 875/2007

Cfp

The purpose of this consultation is to collect the views of citizens and stakeholders on the Commission services’ draft of the Commission Regulation on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) to de minimis aid in the fishery and aquaculture sector.

State aid not exceeding a certain ceiling over a period of time is deemed not to meet all the criteria laid down in Article 107(1) TFEU and is therefore exempted from the notification procedure. This is the so called de minimis aid. In the fisheries sector, Commission Regulation (EC) No 875/2007 sets this ceiling at 30 000 EUR per beneficiary over any period of three years. It also sets a maximum cumulative amount per Member State. De minimis aid granted to all undertakings in the fisheries sector over three-year period cannot exceed 2,5% of the annual fisheries output per Member State. Since this regulation expires at the end of 2013, the Commission services issued, for consultation purpose, a new draft of de minimis regulation.

This first draft of de minimis regulation maintains the ceiling of 30 000 EUR but opens a discussion whether the cumulative amount for each Member State should not be lowered below the current 2,5% of the annual fishery and aquaculture output.

The review has to be put in the context of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

Read more here.

Closing date: 21st February 2014