Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2603 of 22 November 2023 correcting Regulation (EU) 2022/2473 declaring certain categories of aid to undertakings active in the production, processing and marketing of fishery and aquaculture products compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 108(4) thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1588 of 13 July 2015 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to certain categories of horizontal State aid (1), and in particular Article 1(1), points (a)(i), (ii), (vi), (vii) and (x), thereof,

After consulting the Advisory Committee on State aid,

Whereas:

(1) Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2473 (2) contains technical errors which affect the content of the relevant provisions of that Regulation. Those errors concern wrong or missed cross references and omissions.

(2) The errors impact the conditions for exempting State aid pursuant to Article 1(7), Article 6(5), Article 11(3), Article 12(1) and (7), Article 52(4) and Article 54(2) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2473 and Annex III thereto. It is therefore appropriate to correct those provisions.

(3) Regulation (EU) 2022/2473 should therefore be corrected accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EU) 2022/2473 is corrected as follows:

(3) in Article 11, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: ‘3.   Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not apply to aid granted to CLLD projects referred to in Article 55.’

(b) paragraph 7 is replaced by the following: ‘7.   The final evaluation report shall be submitted to the Commission at the latest 9 months before the expiry of the exempted aid scheme. That period may be reduced for aid schemes triggering the evaluation requirement in the last 2 years of implementation of the aid scheme. The precise scope and arrangements for each evaluation shall be set out in the Commission Decision approving the evaluation plan. The notification of any subsequent aid measure with a similar objective shall describe how the results of the evaluation have been taken into account.’

(5) in Article 52, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following: ‘4.   The amount of the aid granted under this Article shall not exceed, in gross grant equivalent, a maximum aid intensity rate of 100 % of the eligible costs.’

(6) in Article 54, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2.   Aid for costs incurred by municipalities participating in CLLD projects, referred to in Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 and implemented under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund in favour of projects referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3), point (c), TFEU and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) TFEU, provided the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I of this Regulation are fulfilled.’

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 22 November 2023.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 248, 24.9.2015, p. 1.

(2) Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2473 of 14 December 2022 declaring certain categories of aid to undertakings active in the production, processing and marketing of fishery and aquaculture products compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (OJ L 327, 21.12.2022, p. 82).