State aid: guidance

Agricultural Block Exemption Regulation 2014 – 2020 (ABER)

Guidance for public funders on the administration and monitoring requirements of funding State aid schemes

Introduction

This factsheet provides a summary of the type of monitoring and reporting information you, the funder, are required to provide before, during and after registering State aid under ABER.

Step 1: Registering a scheme

You have identified State aid in a measure you wish to fund and the activity can be covered compatibly under an ABER article(s).

Provide the State Aid Unit (SAU) with information as required at Annex II of the ABER:

• name of the beneficiary (Ad hoc Aid only)
• title of aid measure
• national legal basis (the national legislation that allows you to provide the aid).
• web link to the full text of the measure. (Link to your website)
• type of measure (is it an aid scheme or a one –off award?)
• duration of the scheme. (Start and end dates).
• size of enterprise (SME/large) at the time of granting. (see definition at Annex I of ABER).
• region in which the beneficiary is located, at NUTS level II (1)
• sector of activity at NACE group level (5)
• aid instrument (Grant/Interest rate subsidy, Loan/Repayable advances/Reimbursable grant, Guarantee, Tax advantage or tax exemption, Risk finance, Other (please specify))
• date of granting (Ad-hoc aid only)
• total overall budget for duration of scheme (6)
• granting authority (Funding body details)
• if co-financed by EU funds (name of fund, amount in Euros and GB Pounds)
• objective of the aid (identify which ABER article the measure falls under and the maximum aid intensity

(In some instances Ad hoc aid for large enterprises also requires additional evidence to prove an incentive effect. See ABER Article 6).

A link to the relevant website containing full details of the scheme must be provided prior to registration.

We will register the scheme on the EC SANI system and will inform you when the scheme has been validated and provide a scheme number for your records.

Step 2: Reporting requirements during scheme delivery

Annex III of the ABER regulations require publication of each individual aid award exceeding the following:

• €60,000 for beneficiaries active in primary agricultural production
• €500,000 for beneficiaries active in the sectors of the processing or marketing of agricultural products, the forestry sector or activities falling out with the scope of Article 42

Details to be published:

• name of the beneficiary
• beneficiary's identifier
• type of enterprise (SME/large) at the time of granting
• region in which the beneficiary is located, at NUTS level II (1)
• sector of activity at NACE group level (2)
• aid element, expressed as full amount in national currency (3)
• aid instrument (4) (Grant/Interest rate subsidy, Loan/Repayable advances/Reimbursable grant, Guarantee, Tax advantage or tax exemption, Risk finance, Other (please specify))
• date of granting
• objective of the aid
• granting authority
• reference of the aid measure (scheme number)

Central website - Information needs to be published on a national or regional state aid website that is accessible to the public. Member States have two years to set this up. The UK system is currently under development and funding bodies will be informed when this is active.

Annual reporting - the State Aid Unit will contact scheme administrators/funders around March/April each year for the information below on scheme spend for the previous calendar year. This is then reported to the Commission.

• aid element, expressed as full amount in national currency (3)
• aid instrument (4) (Grant/Interest rate subsidy, Loan/Repayable advances/Reimbursable grant, Guarantee, Tax advantage or tax exemption, Risk finance, Other [please specify])
• scheme spend per ABER article
• granting authority
• reference of the aid measure

The annual report shall also contain information concerning the following:

• animal diseases or plant pest as referred to in Article 26
• meteorological information on the type, timing, relative magnitude and location of climatic events which can be assimilated to a natural disaster as referred to in Article 25 or natural disasters in the agricultural sector as referred to in Article 30

Alterations to schemes. The funder must notify the Commission about any alterations to the scheme. This is the case when:

• an increase in the budget of an authorised aid scheme exceeds 20%
• prolongation of an existing authorised aid scheme by up to six years with or without an increase in the budget
• tightening of the criteria for the application of an authorised aid scheme, a reduction of aid intensity or a reduction of eligible costs

Step 3: Post scheme delivery

Document retention. Scheme information must be available for at least ten years from the date on which ad hoc aid was granted or from the date that the last aid was granted under a scheme. The funding body has to provide information within 20 working days at the request of the Commission.

The current Agricultural de-minimis Regulation allows farmers and crofters to receive €20,000 of State Aid de minimis payments over a three-year fiscal rolling period. For the National Loan Schemes it is the interest foregone (calculated at market rates) and not the actual loan amount that is the state aid element. 

The National Insurance Employment Allowance is capped tax relief for employers worth up to £3,000/~€3,400 per year.  

Agriculture and fisheries businesses will qualify for Employment Allowance after 6 April 2020, so long as they are not disqualified by the large employer exclusion and can receive the Employment Allowance under the de minimis aid rules.

Read further information on the HMRC National Insurance Employment Allowance’ on the De Minimis aid page.