1. The Commission may, by means of regulations adopted in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 8 of this Regulation and in accordance with Article 92 of the Treaty, declare that the following categories of aid should be compatible with the common market and shall not be subject to the notification requirements of Article 93(3) of the Treaty:
(a)
aid in favour of:
(i)
small and medium-sized enterprises;
(ii)
research and development;
(iii)
environmental protection;
(iv)
employment and training;
(b)
aid that complies with the map approved by the Commission for each Member State for the grant of regional aid.
2. The Regulations referred to in paragraph 1 shall specify for each category of aid:
(a)
the purpose of the aid;
(b)
the categories of beneficiaries;
(c)
thresholds expressed either in terms of aid intensities in relation to a set of eligible costs or in terms of maximum aid amounts;
(d)
the conditions governing the cumulation of aid;
(e)
the conditions of monitoring as specified in Article 3.
3. In addition, the regulations referred to in paragraph 1 may, in particular:
(a)
set thresholds or other conditions for the notification of awards of individual aid;
(b)
exclude certain sectors from their scope;
(c)
attach further conditions for the compatibility of aid exempted under such regulations.
Article 2 -
De minimis
1. The Commission may, by means of a Regulation adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8 of this Regulation, decide that, having regard to the development and functioning of the common market, certain aids do not meet all the criteria of Article 92(1) and that they are therefore exempted from the notification procedure provided for in Article 93(3), provided that aid granted to the same undertaking over a given period of time does not exceed a certain fixed amount.
2. At the Commission's request, Member States shall, at any time, communicate to it any additional information relating to aid exempted under paragraph 1.
Article 3 -
Transparency and monitoring
1. When adopting regulations pursuant to Article 1, the Commission shall impose detailed rules upon Member States to ensure transparency and monitoring of the aid exempted from notification in accordance with those regulations. Such rules shall consist, in particular, of the requirements laid down in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4.
2. On implementation of aid systems or individual aids granted outside any system, which have been exempted pursuant to such regulations, Member States shall forward to the Commission, with a view to publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities, summaries of the information regarding such systems of aid or such individual aids as are not covered by exempted aid systems.
3. Member States shall record and compile all the information regarding the application of the group exemptions. If the Commission has information which leads it to doubt that an exemption regulation is being applied properly, the Member States shall forward to it any information it considers necessary to assess whether an aid complies with that regulation.
4. At least once a year, Member States shall supply the Commission with a report on the application of group exemptions, in accordance with the Commission's specific requirements, preferably in computerised form. The Commission shall make access to those reports available to all the Member States. The Advisory Committee referred to in Article 7 shall examine and evaluate those reports once a year.
Article 4 -
Period of validity and amendment of regulations
1. Regulations adopted pursuant to Articles 1 and 2 shall apply for a specific period. Aid exempted by a regulation adopted pursuant to Articles 1 and 2 shall be exempted for the period of validity of that regulation and for the adjustment period provided for in paragraphs 2 and 3.
2. Regulations adopted pursuant to Articles 1 and 2 may be repeated or amended where circumstances have changed with respect to any important element that constituted grounds for their adoption or where the progressive development or the functioning of the common market so requires. In that case the new regulation shall set a period of adjustment of six months for the adjustment of aid covered by the previous regulation.
3. Regulations adopted pursuant to Articles 1 and 2 shall provide for a period as referred to in paragraph 2, should their application not be extended when they expire.
Article 5 -
Evaluation report
Every five years the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the application of this Regulation. It shall submit a draft report for consideration by the Advisory Committee referred to in Article 7.
Article 6 -
Hearing of interested parties
Where the Commission intends to adopt a regulation, it shall publish a draft thereof to enable all interested persons and organisations to submit their comments to it within a reasonable time limit to be fixed by the Commission and which may not under any circumstances be less than one month.
Article 7 -
Advisory committee
An advisory committee, hereinafter referred to as the Advisory Committee on State Aid, shall be set up. It shall be composed of representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.
Article 8 -
Consultation of the Advisory Committee
1. The Commission shall consult the Advisory Committee on State Aid:
(a)
before publishing any draft regulation;
(b)
before adopting any regulation.
2. Consultation of the Committee shall take place at a meeting called by the Commission. The drafts and documents to be examined shall be annexed to the notification. The meeting shall take place no earlier than two months after notification has been sent.
This period may be reduced in the case of the consultations referred to in paragraph 1(b), when urgent or for simple extension of a regulation.
3. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a time limit which the Chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by taking a vote.
4. The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask to have its position recorded in the minutes. The Advisory Committee may recommend publication of the opinion in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
5. The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered by the Committee. It shall inform the Committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account.
Article 9 -
Final provisions
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
