Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty Text with EEA relevance

Financial intermediaries, including energy efficiency funds shall be managed on a commercial basis and shall ensure profit-driven financing decisions. This is considered to be the case when the financial intermediary and, as the case may be, the managers of the energy efficiency fund fulfil the following conditions:

Aid shall not be granted under this Article for investments undertaken to comply with Union standards that have been adopted and are in force.

Aid may be granted under this Article for investments undertaken to comply with Union standards that have been adopted but are not yet in force. Where the relevant Union standards are minimum energy performance standards, the aid must be granted before the standards become mandatory for the undertaking concerned. In that case, the Member State must ensure that beneficiaries provide a precise renovation plan and timetable demonstrating that the aided renovation is at least sufficient to ensure compliance with the minimum energy performance standards. Where the relevant Union standards are different from minimum energy performance standards, the investment must be implemented and finalised at least 18 months before the standard enters into force.

Aid may also be granted for the improvement of the energy efficiency of the heating or cooling equipment inside the building.

Aid for the installation of energy equipment fired by fossil fuels, including natural gas, shall not be exempted under this Article from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty.

The Member State may assign the implementation of the aid measure to an entrusted entity.

Investment aid for the promotion of energy from renewable energy sources, of renewable hydrogen and of high-efficiency cogeneration, with the exception of electricity produced from renewable hydrogen, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Investment aid for the production and storage of biofuels, bioliquids, biogas (including biomethane) and biomass fuels shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty only to the extent that the aided fuels are compliant with the sustainability and greenhouse gases emissions saving criteria of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and its implementing or delegated acts and are made from the feedstock listed in Annex IX to that Directive. The storage component shall obtain at least 75 % of its fuel content from directly connected biofuels, bioliquids, biogas (including biomethane) and biomass fuels production installations, on an annual basis. All investment components (production and storage) are considered to constitute a single integrated project for verification of compliance with the thresholds set out in Article 4 of this Regulation.

Investment aid for the production of hydrogen shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty only for installations producing exclusively renewable hydrogen. For renewable hydrogen projects consisting of an electrolyser and one or more renewable generation units behind a single grid connection point, the capacity of the electrolyser shall not exceed the combined capacity of the renewable generation units. The investment aid may cover dedicated infrastructure for the transmission or distribution of renewable hydrogen, as well as storage facilities for renewable hydrogen.

Investment aid for high-efficiency cogeneration units shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty only to the extent that they provide overall primary energy savings compared to separate production of heat and electricity as provided for by Directive 2012/27/EU or any subsequent legislation replacing this act in full or in part. Investment aid for electricity and thermal storage projects directly connected to high-efficiency cogeneration based on renewable energy sources shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty under the conditions laid down in paragraph 1a of this Article.

The investment aid shall be granted in respect of newly installed or refurbished capacities. The aid amount shall be independent from the output.

The eligible costs shall be the total investment cost.

The aid intensity shall not exceed:

The aid intensity may be increased by 20 percentage points for aid granted to small undertakings and by 10 percentage points for aid granted to medium-sized undertakings.

The aid intensity may reach 100 % of the eligible costs where aid is granted in a competitive bidding process, which fulfils all of the following conditions in addition to those laid down in Article 2, point (38):

Operating aid for the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources, with the exception of electricity produced from renewable hydrogen, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Aid shall be granted in a competitive bidding process, which fulfils all of the following conditions in addition to those laid down in Article 2, point (38):

The bidding process can be limited to specific technologies where:

Where the bidding process is limited to one or more innovative technologies, the aid granted to these technologies shall not exceed 5 % of the planned new electricity capacity from renewable energy sources per year in total.

Aid shall be granted as a premium in addition to the market price or in the form of a contract for difference whereby the generators sell their electricity directly in the market.

Aid beneficiaries shall sell their electricity directly in the market and be subject to standard balancing responsibilities. Beneficiaries may outsource balancing responsibilities to other undertakings on their behalf, such as aggregators. Furthermore, aid shall not be paid for any periods where prices are negative. For the avoidance of doubt, this applies as of the moment when prices turn negative.

Small-scale renewable electricity installations may benefit from aid in the form of direct price support that covers the full costs of operation and from an exemption from the requirement to sell the electricity produced on the market, in accordance with Article 4(3) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001. Installations will be considered as small-scale for the purposes of this paragraph if their capacity is below the applicable threshold under Article 5(2), point (b), or Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) 2019/943.

Aid shall only be granted over the lifetime of the project.

Operating aid for the promotion of energy from renewable sources and of renewable hydrogen in small projects and renewable energy communities, with the exception of electricity produced from renewable hydrogen, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

For the purposes of this Article small projects are defined as follows:

Operating aid for the production of biofuels, bioliquids, biogas (including biomethane) and biomass fuels shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty only to the extent that the aided fuels are compliant with the sustainability and greenhouse gases emissions saving criteria of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and its implementing or delegated acts and are made from the feedstock listed in Annex IX to that Directive.

Aid shall be limited to the minimum needed for carrying out the aided project or activity. This condition is fulfilled if the aid corresponds to the net extra cost (‘funding gap’) necessary to meet the objective of the aid measure, compared to the counterfactual scenario in the absence of aid. A detailed assessment of the net extra cost is not required if the aid amounts are determined through a competitive bidding process, because the latter provides a reliable estimate of the minimum aid required by potential beneficiaries.

Aid shall only be granted over the lifetime of the project.

Aid shall be granted as a premium in addition to the market price or in the form of a contract for difference whereby the generators sell their electricity directly in the market.

Aid beneficiaries shall be subject to standard balancing responsibilities. Beneficiaries may outsource balancing responsibilities to other undertakings on their behalf, such as aggregators. Furthermore, aid shall not be paid for any periods where prices are negative. For the avoidance of doubt, this applies as of the moment when prices turn negative.

Small-scale renewable electricity installations and demonstration projects may benefit from aid in the form of direct price support that covers the full costs of operation and from an exemption from the requirement to sell the electricity produced on the market, in accordance with Article 4(3) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001. Installations will be considered as small-scale for the purposes of this paragraph if their capacity is below the applicable threshold under Article 5(2), point (b), or Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) 2019/943.

Aid schemes in the form of reductions in taxes fulfilling the conditions of Directive 2003/96/EC shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The beneficiaries of the tax reduction shall be selected on the basis of transparent and objective criteria.

The beneficiaries of the tax reduction shall pay at least the minimum level of taxation laid down in Annex I to Directive 2003/96/EC, except for reductions:

Aid schemes in the form of tax reductions may be based on a reduction of the applicable tax rate or on the payment of a fixed compensation amount or on a combination of these mechanisms.

Tax reductions granted on the basis of Article 16(1) of Directive 2003/96/EC shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty only to the extent that the aided fuels are compliant with the sustainability and greenhouse gases emissions saving criteria of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and its implementing or delegated acts, and are made from the feedstock listed in Annex IX to that Directive.

Aid schemes in the form of reductions in environmental taxes or parafiscal levies shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled. This Article shall not apply to reductions in taxes or levies on energy products and electricity, defined in Article 2 of Directive 2003/96/EC.

Aid in the form of reductions in environmental taxes or parafiscal levies shall be compatible only where the reduction allows to achieve a higher level of environmental protection by including in the scope of the environmental tax or levy undertakings that would not be able to pursue their economic activities without the reduction.

Only those undertakings that would not be able to pursue their economic activities without the reduction are eligible for aid. For the purposes of this Article, this is considered the case for undertakings whose production costs would substantially increase due to the environmental tax or parafiscal levy without the reduction and which are not able to pass that increase on to customers. The increase in the production costs shall be calculated as a proportion of the gross value added for each sector or category of beneficiaries.

The beneficiaries shall be selected on the basis of transparent, non-discriminatory and objective criteria. The aid shall be granted in the same way to all eligible undertakings operating in the same sector of economic activity that are in the same or similar factual situation in respect of the objectives of the aid measure.

The gross grant equivalent of the aid shall not exceed 80 % of the nominal rate of the tax or levy.

Aid schemes in the form of reductions in environmental taxes or parafiscal levies may be based on a reduction of the applicable tax rate or on the payment of a fixed compensation amount or on a combination of these mechanisms.

Investment aid for the remediation of environmental damage, the rehabilitation of natural habitats and ecosystems, the protection or restoration of biodiversity and the implementation of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Aid under this Article may be granted for the following activities :

This Article shall not apply to aid to make good the damage caused by natural disasters, such as earthquakes, avalanches, landslides, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and wild fires of natural origin.

This Article shall also not apply to aid for remediation or rehabilitation following the closure of power plants and mining or extraction operations.

Without prejudice to Directive 2004/35/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0066]) or other relevant Union rules on liability for environmental damage, where the entity or undertaking liable for the environmental damage under the law applicable in each Member State is identified, that entity or undertaking shall finance the works necessary to prevent and correct environmental degradation and contamination in accordance with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, and no aid shall be granted for the works that the entity or undertaking would be legally required to conduct. The Member State shall take all necessary measures, including legal action, to identify the liable entity or undertaking at the origin of the environmental damage and make it bear the relevant costs. Where the entity or undertaking liable under the applicable law cannot be identified or made to bear the costs of remediating the environmental damage it has caused, in particular because the liable undertaking has ceased to legally exist and no other undertaking can be regarded as its legal or economic successor, or where there is insufficient financial security to meet the costs of remediation, aid may be granted to support the remediation or rehabilitation works. Aid shall not be granted for the implementation of compensatory measures referred to in Article 6(4) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC ([^E0067]). Aid may be granted under this Article to cover the extra costs necessary to increase the scope or ambition of those measures, beyond the legal obligations under Article 6(4) of Directive 92/43/EEC.

For investments in the remediation of environmental damage or the rehabilitation of natural habitats and ecosystems, the eligible costs shall be the costs incurred for the remediation or rehabilitation works, less the increase in the value of the land or property.

Evaluations of the increase in the value of the land or property resulting from remediation or rehabilitation shall be carried out by an independent qualified expert.

For investments in the protection or restoration of biodiversity and in the implementation of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation, the eligible costs shall be the total costs of the works resulting in the contribution to protecting or restoring biodiversity or in the implementation of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The aid intensity shall not exceed:

The aid intensity for investments in the protection or restoration of biodiversity and in the implementation of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation may be increased by 20 percentage points for aid granted to small undertakings and by 10 percentage points for aid granted to medium-sized undertakings.

Investment aid for the construction, extension or upgrade of energy efficient district heating and/or cooling systems, which includes the construction, extension or the upgrade of heating or cooling generation installations and/or thermal storage solutions and/or the distribution network, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Aid shall only be granted for the construction, extension or upgrade of district heating and/or cooling systems that are or are to become energy efficient as defined in Article 2, point (41), of Directive 2012/27/EU. Where the system does not yet become fully energy efficient as a result of the supported works on the distribution network, the additional upgrades required to fullfil the conditions for falling under the definition of energy efficient district heating and/or cooling shall, for heating and/or cooling generation facilities which are subject to the aid, commence within 3 years from the start of the supported works on the distribution network.

Aid may be granted for energy generation based on renewable sources, including heat pumps compliant with Annex VII to Directive (EU) 2018/2001, waste heat or high-efficient cogeneration, as well as thermal storage solutions. Aid for energy generation based on waste may be based either on waste that meets the definition of renewable energy sources or waste used to fuel installations that meet the definition of high-efficiency cogeneration. Waste used as input fuel must not circumvent the waste hierarchy principle as defined in Article 4(1), of Directive 2008/98/EC.

Aid shall not be granted for the construction or upgrade of fossil fuel based generation facilities, except for natural gas. Aid for the construction or upgrade of natural gas based generation facilities may be granted only where compliance with the 2030 and 2050 climate targets is ensured in accordance with Annex 1, section 4.30 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139.

Aid for upgrades of storage and distribution networks that transmit heating and cooling generated based on fossil fuels may only be granted where all of the following conditions are met:

The eligible costs shall be the investment costs related to the construction or upgrade of an energy efficient district heating and/or cooling system.

The aid intensity shall not exceed 30 % of the eligible costs. The aid intensity may be increased by 20 percentage points for aid granted to small undertakings and by 10 percentage points for aid granted to medium-sized undertakings.

The aid intensity may be increased by 15 percentage points for investments using only renewable energy sources, waste heat, or a combination of the two, including renewable cogeneration.

As an alternative to paragraph 7, the aid intensity may reach up to 100 % of the funding gap. The aid shall be limited to the minimum needed for carrying out the aided project or activity. This condition is fulfilled if the aid corresponds to the funding gap as defined under Article 2, point (118). A detailed assessment of the net extra cost is not required if the aid amounts are determined through a competitive bidding process, because the latter provides a reliable estimate of the minimum aid required by potential beneficiaries.

Investment aid for resource efficiency and circularity shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The aid shall be granted for the following types of investments:

Aid for waste disposal and waste recovery operations to generate energy shall not be exempted under this Article from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty.

The aid shall not relieve undertakings that generate waste from any costs or obligations relating to the treatment of waste for which they are liable under Union or national law, including under extended producer responsibility schemes, or from costs that should be considered as normal costs for an undertaking.

The aid must not incentivise the generation of waste or the increased use of resources.

Investments related to technologies constituting an already profitable established commercial practice throughout the Union shall not be exempted under this Article from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty.

The eligible costs shall be the extra investment costs determined by comparing the total investment costs of the project with those of a less environmentally-friendly project or activity that shall be one of the following:

The aid intensity shall not exceed 40 % of the eligible costs. The aid intensity may be increased by 20 percentage points for aid granted to small undertakings and by 10 percentage points for aid granted to medium-sized undertakings.

The aid intensity may be increased by 15 percentage points for investments located in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3)(a) of the Treaty and by 5 percentage points for investments located in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty.

Aid shall not be granted under this Article for investments undertaken to comply with Union standards that have been adopted and are in force. Aid may be granted under this Article for investments undertaken to comply with Union standards that have been adopted but are not yet in force, provided that the investment is implemented and finalised at least 18 months before the standard enters into force.

Investment aid for the construction or upgrade of energy infrastructure shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Aid for energy infrastructure that is partly or fully exempted from third party access or tariff regulation in accordance with internal energy market legislation shall not be exempted under this Article from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty.

Aid for investments in electricity and gas storage projects shall not be exempt from the notification requirement under this Article.

Aid for gas infrastructure shall only be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty where the infrastructure in question is dedicated to the use for hydrogen and/or for renewable gases, or used for the transport of more than 50 % hydrogen and renewable gases.

The eligible costs shall be the total investment costs.

The aid intensity may reach up to 100 % of the funding gap. The aid shall be limited to the minimum needed for carrying out the aided project or activity. This condition is fulfilled if the aid corresponds to the funding gap as defined under Article 2, point (118). A detailed assessment of the net extra cost is not required if the aid amounts are determined through a competitive bidding process, because it provides a reliable estimate of the minimum aid required by potential beneficiaries.

Aid for studies or consultancy services, including energy audits, directly linked to investments eligible for aid under this Section shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Where the entire study or consultancy service concerns investments eligible for aid under this Section, the eligible costs shall be the costs of the study or consultancy service. Where only part of the study or consultancy service concerns investments eligible for aid under this Section, the eligible costs shall be the costs of the part of the study or consultancy service relating to those investments.

The aid intensity shall not exceed 60 % of the eligible costs.

The aid intensity may be increased by 20 percentage points for studies or consultancy services undertaken on behalf of small undertakings and by 10 percentage points for studies or consultancy services undertaken on behalf of medium-sized undertakings.

Aid shall not be granted for energy audits carried out to comply with Directive 2012/27/EU, unless the energy audit is carried out in addition to the mandatory energy audit under that Directive.

Aid schemes to make good the damage caused by earthquakes, avalanches, landslides, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and wild fires of natural origin shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(2)(b) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Aid shall be granted subject to the following conditions:

Aid schemes related to a specific natural disaster shall be introduced within three years following the occurrence of the event. Aid on the basis of such schemes shall be granted within four years following the occurrence.

The costs arising from the damage incurred as a direct consequence of the natural disaster, as assessed by an independent expert recognised by the competent national authority or by an insurance undertaking shall be eligible costs. Such damage may include material damage to assets such as buildings, equipment, machinery or stocks and loss of income due to the full or partial suspension of activity for a period not exceeding six months from the occurrence of the disaster. The calculation of the material damage shall be based on the repair cost or economic value of the affected asset before the disaster. It shall not exceed the repair cost or the decrease in fair market value caused by the disaster, that is to say the difference between the property's value immediately before and immediately after the occurrence of the disaster. Loss of income shall be calculated on the basis of financial data of the affected undertaking (earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), depreciation and labour costs related only to the establishment affected by the natural disaster) by comparing the financial data for the six months after the occurrence of the disaster with the average of three years chosen among the five years preceding the occurrence of the disaster (by excluding the two years giving the best and the worst financial result) and calculated for the same six months period of the year. The damage shall be calculated at the level of the individual beneficiary.

The aid and any other payments received to compensate for the damage, including payments under insurance policies, shall not exceed 100 % of the eligible costs.

Aid for air and maritime passenger transport shall be compatible with the internal market pursuant to Article 107(2)(a) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The entire aid shall be for the benefit of final consumers who have their normal residence in remote regions.

The aid shall be granted for passenger transport on a route linking an airport or port in a remote region with another airport or port within the European Economic Area.

The aid shall be granted without discrimination as to the identity of the carrier or type of service and without limitation as to the precise route to or from the remote region.

The eligible costs shall be the price of a return ticket from or to the remote region, including all taxes and charges invoiced by the carrier to the consumer.

The aid intensity shall not exceed 100 % of the eligible costs.

Aid for fixed broadband network deployment shall be compatible with the internal market pursuant to Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The eligible costs shall be all costs for the construction, management and operation of a fixed broadband network. The maximum aid amount for a project shall be established on the basis of a competitive selection process as set out in paragraph 6, point (a). Where an investment is carried out in accordance with paragraph 6, point (b), without a competitive selection process, the aid amount shall not exceed the difference between the eligible costs and the normal operating profit of the investment. The operating profit shall be deducted from the eligible costs ex ante on the basis of reasonable projections and verified ex post through a claw-back mechanism. The reasonable projection of the measure requires that all costs and all revenues, which are expected to be incurred over the economic lifetime of the investment, shall be taken into account.

The following alternative types of investment are eligible:

Areas where there is at least one network that can be upgraded to provide a speed of at least 1 Gbps download under peak time conditions are not eligible for interventions under points (a) and (b) of paragraph 3. A network is considered to be upgradable to provide a speed of at least 1 Gbps download under peak time conditions if it can provide this speed with a marginal investment, such as an upgrade of active equipment, without significant investment in broadband infrastructure.

The mapping and public consultation for the purposes of paragraph 3 shall meet the following requirements cumulatively:

The intervention shall bring a significant improvement (step change) compared to the networks existing or credibly planned to be deployed within the relevant time horizon, as identified through the mapping and public consultation carried out in accordance with paragraph 5. Credibly planned networks shall be taken into account for the assessment of the step-change only if they would, on their own, provide similar performance to that of the planned State funded network in the target areas within the relevant time horizon. A step change takes place if, as a result of the subsidised intervention, a significant new investment in the broadband network is undertaken and the subsidised network brings significant new capabilities to the market in terms of broadband service availability, capacity, speeds and competition compared to the existing or credibly planned networks within the relevant time horizon. The intervention shall include more than 70 % investments in broadband infrastructure. In any case, an eligible intervention, as laid down in paragraph 3, must result at least in the following improvements:

The aid shall be granted as follows:

The subsidised network shall offer wholesale access, as defined in Article 2, point (139), under fair and non-discriminatory conditions. By derogation, interventions eligible under paragraph 3, point (a), may offer virtual unbundling instead of physical unbundling if the virtual unbundling access product is approved in advance by the national regulatory authority or other competent authority. Active wholesale access shall be granted for at least 10 years from the start of the operation of the network and the wholesale access to the broadband infrastructure shall be granted for the lifetime of the elements concerned. Access based on virtual unbundling must be granted for a period of time equal to the lifespan of the infrastructure for which virtual unbundling is a substitute. The same access conditions shall apply to the entirety of the network, including on parts of the network where existing infrastructures have been used. The access obligations shall be enforced irrespective of any change in ownership, management or operation of the network. The network shall provide access to at least three access seekers and shall make available at least 50 % of the capacity to access seekers. In order to render the wholesale access effective and to enable the access seekers to provide services, wholesale access shall also be granted to parts of the network that have not been State funded or that may not have been deployed by the aid beneficiary, such as by granting access to active equipment even if only broadband infrastructure is financed.

The wholesale access price shall be based on one of the following benchmarks and pricing principles:

Member States shall put in place a monitoring and claw-back mechanism if the amount of aid granted to the project exceeds EUR 10 million.

To ensure that aid remains proportional and does not lead to overcompensation or cross-subsidisation of non-aided activities, the aid beneficiary shall ensure accounting separation between the funds used for the deployment and the operation of the State funded network and other funds at its disposal.

Aid for 4G and 5G mobile network deployment shall be compatible with the internal market pursuant to Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The eligible costs shall be all costs for the construction, management and operation of passive and active components of a mobile network. The maximum aid amount for a project shall be established on the basis of a competitive selection process as set out in paragraph 7, point (a). Where an investment is carried out in accordance with paragraph 7, point (b), without a competitive selection process, the aid amount shall not exceed the difference between the eligible costs and the normal operating profit of the investment. The operating profit shall be deducted from the eligible costs ex ante on the basis of reasonable projections and verified ex post through a claw-back mechanism. The reasonable projection of the measure requires that all costs and all revenues, which are expected to be incurred over the economic lifetime of the investment, shall be taken into account.

Mobile 5G network deployment shall be located in areas where there are no 4G and no 5G mobile networks existing or credibly planned to be deployed within the relevant time horizon. Mobile 4G network deployment shall be located in areas where there are no 3G, 4G or 5G mobile networks existing or credibly planned to be deployed within the relevant time horizon. These requirements shall be verified by mapping and public consultation in accordance with paragraph 4.

The mapping and public consultation for the purposes of paragraph 3 shall meet the following requirements cumulatively:

The aided infrastructure shall not be taken into account to meet the coverage obligations of the mobile networks operators that arise out of conditions attached to rights of use of 4G and 5G spectrum.

The intervention shall bring a significant improvement (step change) compared to the mobile networks existing or credibly planned to be deployed within the relevant time horizon, as identified through mapping and public consultation carried out in accordance with paragraph 4. Credibly planned networks shall be taken into account for the assessment of the step-change only if they would, on their own, provide similar performance to that of the planned State funded network in the target areas within the relevant time horizon. A step change takes place if, as a result of the subsidised intervention, a significant new investment in the mobile network is undertaken and the subsidised network brings significant new capabilities to the market in terms of mobile service availability, capacity, speeds and competition compared to the existing or credibly planned networks within the relevant time horizon. The intervention shall include more than 50 % investment in broadband infrastructure.

The aid shall be granted as follows:

The operation of the subsidised network shall offer wholesale access, as defined in Article 2, point (139), under fair and non-discriminatory conditions. Active wholesale access shall be granted for at least 10 years from the start of the operation of the network and wholesale access to the broadband infrastructure shall be granted for the lifetime of the elements concerned. The same access conditions shall apply on the entirety of the network, including on the parts of such network where existing infrastructures have been used. The access obligations shall be enforced irrespective of any change in ownership, management or operation of the network. In order to render the wholesale access effective and to enable the access seekers to provide services, wholesale access shall also be granted to parts of the network that have not been State funded or that may not have been deployed by the aid beneficiary, such as by granting access to active equipment even if only broadband infrastructure is financed.

The wholesale access price shall be based on one of the following benchmarks and pricing principles:

Member States shall put in place a monitoring and claw-back mechanism if the amount of aid granted to the project exceeds EUR 10 million.

The use of the State funded mobile 4G or 5G network to provide fixed wireless access services shall only be allowed in areas where there is no network providing speeds of at least 100 Mbps download under peak-time conditions existing or credibly planned to be deployed within the relevant time horizon, if the following cumulative conditions are met:

To ensure that aid remains proportional and does not lead to overcompensation or cross-subsidisation of non-aided activities, the aid beneficiary shall ensure accounting separation between the funds used for the deployment and the operation of the State funded network and other funds at its disposal.

Aid for projects of common interest in the area of trans-European digital connectivity infrastructure financed under Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 or awarded a Seal of Excellence quality label under that Regulation shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Projects shall fulfil the cumulative general compatibility conditions laid down in paragraph 3. They shall, in addition, fall under one of the categories of eligible projects laid down in paragraph 4 and shall fulfil all specific compatibility conditions for the relevant category laid down in that paragraph. Only projects which refer solely to the elements and entities specified under each relevant category in paragraph 4 shall fall within the scope of the exemption in paragraph 1.

The general cumulative compatibility conditions shall be the following:

The categories of eligible projects and the specific cumulative compatibility conditions applicable to them shall be the following: