Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/3118 of 10 December 2024 amending Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid in the agriculture sector

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 2(1) thereof,

After consulting the Advisory Committee on State Aid,

Whereas:

(1) In light of the experience gained in applying Commission Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 (2), it is appropriate to increase the ceiling of de minimis aid that a single undertaking may receive per Member State over any period of 3 years to EUR 50 000. That revised ceiling takes into account several factors including the experience gained, the specific inflation in the agricultural sector that took place since the amendment of Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 in 2019 (3) and the estimated developments during the period of validity of Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013. That ceiling is necessary to ensure that any measure falling under Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 may be deemed not to have any effect on trade between Member States and not to distort or threaten to distort competition.

(2) Taking into account the obligation to register in a central register at national or Union level information on de minimis granted, it is appropriate to calculate the national cap as 2 % of the average of the three highest values of annual output per Member State. It is also appropriate to adapt the calculation of the national cap to take more recent years into account, in line with the period of validity of Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013. In light of this, the period used to calculate the average of highest values of annual agricultural output should be set from 2012 to 2023.

(3) Consequently, the criteria for calculating the gross grant equivalent for loans and guarantees should be adjusted according to the increased de minimis ceilings.

(4) In order to align with Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 (4) the period to be taken into account for the purposes of assessing compliance with the ceilings laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 should be changed from 3 fiscal years to 3 years. This period should be assessed on a rolling basis. For each new grant of de minimis aid, the total amount of de minimis aid granted in the previous 3 years needs to be taken into account.

(5) The Commission has a duty to ensure that State aid rules are complied with and are in accordance with the principle of sincere cooperation laid down in Article 4(3) of the Treaty on European Union. Member States should facilitate the fulfilment of this task by having in place the necessary tools to ensure that the total amount of de minimis aid granted to a single undertaking under the de minimis rule as well as the cumulative amount of de minimis aid granted per Member State (‘national cap’) do not exceed the overall permissible ceilings. Member States should monitor the aid granted to ensure that those ceilings are not exceeded and the cumulation rules are complied with. To comply with that obligation and to align with Regulation (EU) 2023/2831, Member States should provide complete information on de minimis aid granted in a central register at national or Union level, at the latest from 1 January 2027, and check that the de minimis ceiling as well as the national cap laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 are not exceeded by any new grant of aid. The central register will help reduce the administrative burden for undertakings. Undertakings will no longer be required to keep track of and declare any other de minimis aid received, once the central register contains data for a period of 3 years. For the purposes of Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013, control of compliance with the ceilings laid down in it should in principle be based on the information included in the central register.

(6) Each Member State may set up a national central register. Existing national central registers satisfying the requirements laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 can continue to be used. The Commission will set up a central register at the Union level that can be used by Member States as from 1 January 2026.

(7) Considering that administrative burden and regulatory obstacles constitute a problem for the majority of SMEs and that the Commission targets to reduce by 25 % the burden stemming from reporting requirements (5), any central register should be set up in such a way as to reduce administrative burden. Good administrative practices, such as those laid down in Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6), may be used as reference for the setting up and operation of the central register at Union level and of the national central registers.

(8) Similarly, the Commission considers that the monitoring of the sector cap increases the administrative burden, in particular for SMEs. Therefore, in order to reduce the administrative burden stemming from the reporting requirements, it is appropriate for the Commission to no longer require the monitoring of the sector cap.

(9) Transparency rules aim to ensure better compliance, greater accountability, peer review and ultimately more effective public spending. The publication, in a central register, of the name of the aid beneficiary serves the legitimate interest in transparency by providing information to the public on the use of Member State funds. It does not unduly interfere with beneficiaries’ right to protection of their personal data as long as the publication in the central register of personal data complies with the Union rules on data protection (7). Member States should have the option to pseudonymise specific entries where necessary to comply with the Union data protection rules.

(10) This Regulation does not encompass all situations where a measure may not have any effect on trade between Member States and may not distort or threaten to distort competition. There may be situations where a beneficiary supplies goods or services to a limited area (for example in an island region or an outermost region) within a Member State and that beneficiary is unlikely to attract customers from other Member States, and that it could not be foreseen that the measure would have more than a marginal effect on the conditions of cross-border investments or establishment. Such measures should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

(11) In the light of the increased need for use of de minimis aid and given that the current ceilings are unduly constraining, it is necessary to amend Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 and extend its period of validity until 31 December 2032.

(12) In order to allow for the prompt application of the measures provided for in this Regulation, this Regulation should enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

(13) Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 is amended as follows:

(2) in Article 2, paragraphs 3 and 4 are deleted;

(3) Article 3 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 3 De minimis aid

(6) Article 6 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 6 Monitoring and reporting

(8) in Article 8, the second paragraph is replaced by the following: ‘It shall apply until 31 December 2032.’;

(9) Annex I is replaced by the text in the Annex to this Regulation;

(10) Annex II is deleted.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third 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, 10 December 2024.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 248, 24.9.2015, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2015/1588/oj.

(2) Commission Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid in the agriculture sector (OJ L 352, 24.12.2013, p. 9, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2013/1408/oj).

(3) By Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/316 of 21 February 2019 amending Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid in the agriculture sector (OJ L 51I, 22.2.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/316/oj).

(4) Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 of 13 December 2023 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid (OJ L, 2023/2831, 15.12.2023, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/2831/oj).

(5) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – SME Relief Package (COM(2023) 535 final of 12 September 2023).

(6) Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 October 2018 establishing a single digital gateway to provide access to information, to procedures and to assistance and problem-solving services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1724/oj).

(7) Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119 4.5.2016, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj); Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1725/oj).