The European Commission is increasing
the de minimis aid ceiling that a Member State can grant to each
farm without prior approval from Brussels, from €25,000 to
€50,000.
The proposed revision of limited agricultural aid was presented
on December 10 following a consultation with Member States that
began in the summer and lasted for months.
The revised regulation will come into effect three days after
its publication in the Official Journal and will apply until
December 31, 2032 (the current regulation was set to expire in
2027).
Specifically, Brussels proposes raising the aid ceiling to
€50,000 over three years and adjusting the "national
thresholds," which will be calculated based on the value of the
Member State's agricultural production.
The reference period will also be extended from 2012-2017 to
2012-2023 to account for "the increase in the value of
agricultural production, especially in recent years," a
statement reads.
Initially, Brussels proposed raising the ceiling to €37,000, but
ultimately yielded to pressure from Berlin and Paris, which,
supported by other capitals, pushed for a doubling of the
ceiling over a three-year period.
To improve transparency, Brussels also aims to make the central
registry for de minimis aid mandatory at either the national or
European level, which is currently optional.
The revision also eliminates the existing "sectoral ceiling,"
which prevented Member States from granting de minimis aid
exceeding 50% of the national threshold to a single sector. This
measure, highlighted by the new EU Vice President for
Competition, Teresa Ribera, is intended to support farmers
facing "inflationary pressures and high raw material prices".
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