What changed, Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid…

− **1.** This Regulation shall apply to the following categories of aid:(a) regional aid;(b) aid to SMEs in the form of investment aid, operating aid and SMEs' access to finance;(c) aid for environmental protection;(d) aid for research and development and innovation;(e) training aid;(f) recruitment an…
− **2.** This Regulation shall not apply to:▼M2(a) schemes under Sections 1 (with the exception of Article 15), 2, 3, 4, 7 (with the exception of Article 44), and 10 of Chapter III of this Regulation, if the average annual State aid budget exceeds EUR 150 million, from six months after their entry int…
− **3.** ►M1 This Regulation shall not apply to:(a) aid granted in the fishery and aquaculture sector, as covered by Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) with the exception of training aid, aid for SMEs' access to finance, aid in the field of research and deve…
− **4.** This Regulation shall not apply to:▼M1(a) aid schemes which do not explicitly exclude the payment of individual aid in favour of an undertaking which is subject to an outstanding recovery order following a previous Commission decision declaring an aid granted by the same Member State illegal …
− (13) ‘coal’ means high-grade, medium-grade and low-grade category A and B coal within the meaning of the international codification system for coal established by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and clarified in the Council decision of 10 December 2010 on State aid to facilitate th…
− (18) ‘undertaking in difficulty’ means an undertaking in respect of which at least one of the following circumstances occurs: (a) In the case of a limited liability company (other than an SME that has been in existence for less than three years or, for the purposes of eligibility for risk finance ai…
− (50) ‘the same or a similar activity’ means an activity falling under the same class (four-digit numerical code) of the NACE Rev. 2 statistical classification of economic activities as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establi…
− (63) ‘organisational cooperation’ means the development of joint business strategies or management structures, the provision of common services or services to facilitate cooperation, coordinated activities such as research or marketing, the support of networks and clusters, the improvement of access…
− (64) ‘advisory services linked to cooperation’ means consulting, assistance and training for the exchange of knowledge and experiences and for improvement of cooperation;
− (65) ‘support services linked to cooperation’ means the provision of office space, websites, data banks, libraries, market research, handbooks, working and model documents;
− (79) ‘entrusted entity’ means the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund, an international financial institution in which a Member State is a shareholder, or a financial institution established in a Member State aiming at the achievement of public interest under the control of a p…
− (91) ‘research infrastructure’ means facilities, resources and related services that are used by the scientific community to conduct research in their respective fields and covers scientific equipment or sets of instruments, knowledge-based resources such as collections, archives or structured scien…
− (102) ‘Union standard’ means: (a) a mandatory Union standard setting the levels to be attained in environmental terms by individual undertakings; or (b) the obligation under Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) to use the best available techniques (BAT) and ensure t…
− (107) ‘high-efficiency cogeneration’ means cogeneration which satisfies the definition of high efficiency cogeneration as set out in Article 2(34) of Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/3…
− (113) ‘food based biofuel’ means a biofuel produced from cereal and other starch rich crops, sugars and oil crops as defined in the Commission's Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 98/70/EC relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and a…
− (120) ‘Union minimum tax level’ means the minimum level of taxation provided for in the Union legislation; for energy products and electricity it means the minimum level of taxation laid down in Annex I to Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 restructuring the Community framework for the …
− (130) ‘energy infrastructure’ means any physical equipment or facility which is located within the Union or linking the Union to one or more third countries and falling under the following categories: (a) concerning electricity: (i) infrastructure for transmission, as defined in Article 2(3) by Dire…
− (131) ‘internal energy market legislation’ includes Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity, Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common …
− (133) ‘basic broadband’‘Basic broadband networks’ means networks with basic functionalities which are based on technology platforms such as asymmetric digital subscriber lines (up to ADSL2+ networks), non-enhanced cable (e.g. DOCSIS 2.0), mobile networks of third generation (UMTS) and satellite syst…
− (137) ‘passive broadband infrastructure’ means a broadband network without any active component. It typically comprises civil engineering infrastructure, ducts and dark fibre and street cabinets.
− (138) ‘next generation access (NGA) networks’ means advanced networks which have at least the following characteristics: (a) deliver services reliably at a very high speed per subscriber through optical (or equivalent technology) backhaul sufficiently close to user premises to guarantee the actual d…
− (145) ‘airline’ means any airline with a valid operating licence issued by a Member State or a Member of the Common European Aviation Area pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (17);
− (151) ‘ground handling services’ means services provided to airport users at airports as described in the Annex to Council Directive 96/67/EC (18);
− (165) ‘infrastructure for the collection of ship-generated waste and cargo residues’ means fixed, floating or mobile port facilities capable of receiving ship-generated waste or cargo residues as defined in Directive 2000/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (19).
− **1.** This Regulation shall not apply to aid which exceeds the following thresholds:(a) for regional investment aid: the ‘adjusted aid amount’ of aid, as calculated in accordance with the mechanism defined in Article 2, point 20 for an investment with eligible costs of EUR 100 million;(b) for regio…
− **2.** The following categories of aid shall be considered to be transparent:(a) aid comprised in grants and interest rate subsidies;(b) aid comprised in loans, where the gross grant equivalent has been calculated on the basis of the reference rate prevailing at the time of the grant;(c) aid compris…
− **5.** By way of derogation from paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, the following categories of aid are not required to have or shall be deemed to have an incentive effect:▼M1(a) regional operating aid and regional urban development aid, where the relevant conditions laid down in Articles 15 and 16 are fulfille…
− **1.** For the purposes of calculating aid intensity and eligible costs, all figures used shall be taken before any deduction of tax or other charge. The eligible costs shall be supported by documentary evidence which shall be clear, specific and contemporary. ►M1 The amounts of eligible costs may b…
− **3.** Aid with identifiable eligible costs exempted by this Regulation may be cumulated with:(a) any other State aid, as long as those measures concern different identifiable eligible costs,(b) any other State aid, in relation to the same eligible costs, partly or fully overlapping, only if such cu…
− **4.** Aid without identifiable eligible costs exempted under Articles 21, 22 and 23 of this Regulation may be cumulated with any other State aid with identifiable eligible costs. Aid without identifiable eligible costs may be cumulated with any other State aid without identifiable eligible costs, u…
+ **1.** This Regulation shall apply to the following categories of aid:(a) regional aid;(b) aid to SMEs in the form of investment aid, operating aid and SMEs' access to finance;(c) aid for environmental protection;(d) aid for research and development and innovation;(e) training aid;(f) recruitment an…
+ **2.** This Regulation shall not apply to:▼M4(a) schemes under Sections 1 (with the exception of Article 15), 2, 3, 4, 7 (with the exception of Article 44) and 10 of Chapter III of this Regulation and aid implemented in the form of financial products under Section 16 of that Chapter, if the average …
+ **3.** This Regulation shall not apply to:▼M4(a) aid granted in the fishery and aquaculture sector, as covered by Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) with the exception of training aid, aid for SMEs’ access to finance, aid in the field of research and devel…
+ **4.** This Regulation shall not apply to:(a) aid schemes which do not explicitly exclude the payment of individual aid in favour of an undertaking which is subject to an outstanding recovery order following a previous Commission decision declaring an aid granted by the same Member State illegal and…
+ (13) ‘coal’ means high-grade, medium-grade and low-grade category A and B coal within the meaning of the international codification system for coal established by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and clarified in the Council decision of 10 December 2010 on State aid to facilitate th…
+ (18) ‘undertaking in difficulty’ means an undertaking in respect of which at least one of the following circumstances occurs: (a) In the case of a limited liability company (other than an SME that has been in existence for less than three years or, for the purposes of eligibility for risk finance ai…
+ (50) ‘the same or a similar activity’ means an activity falling under the same class (four-digit numerical code) of the NACE Rev. 2 statistical classification of economic activities as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establi…
+ (79) ‘entrusted entity’ means the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund, an international financial institution in which a Member State is a shareholder, or a financial institution established in a Member State aiming at the achievement of public interest under the control of a p…
+ (91) ‘research infrastructure’ means facilities, resources and related services that are used by the scientific community to conduct research in their respective fields and covers scientific equipment or sets of instruments, knowledge-based resources such as collections, archives or structured scien…
+ (102) ‘Union standard’ means: (a) a mandatory Union standard setting the levels to be attained in environmental terms by individual undertakings; or (b) the obligation under Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (10) to use the best available techniques (BAT) and ensure …
+ (102a) ‘recharging infrastructure’ means a fixed or mobile infrastructure supplying road vehicles with electricity;
+ (102b) ‘refuelling infrastructure’ means a fixed or mobile infrastructure supplying road vehicles with hydrogen;
+ (102c) ‘renewable hydrogen’ means hydrogen produced through the electrolysis of water (in an electrolyser, powered by electricity stemming from renewable sources), or through the reforming of biogas or biochemical conversion of biomass, if in compliance with sustainability criteria set out in Articl…
+ (103a) ‘residential building’ means a building constituted exclusively of single-family or multi-family dwellings;
+ (103b) ‘social services’ means clearly identified services, meeting social needs, in particular as regards health and long-term care, childcare, access to and reintegration into the labour market, social housing (which means housing for disadvantaged citizens or socially less advantaged groups who d…
+ (103c) ‘digitalisation’ means the adoption of technologies carried out by electronic devices and/or systems which make it possible to increase product functionality, develop online services, modernise processes, or migrate to business models based on the disintermediation of goods production and ser…
+ (103d) ‘smart readiness’ means the capability of buildings (or building units) to adapt their operation to the needs of the occupant, including optimising energy efficiency and overall performance, and to adapt their operation in reaction to signals from the grid;
+ (103e) ‘small mid-cap’ means an undertaking that is not an SME and whose number of employees does not exceed 499, calculated in accordance with Articles 3 to 6 of Annex I, the annual turnover of which does not exceed EUR 100 million or the annual balance sheet of which does not exceed EUR 86 million…
+ (107) ‘high-efficiency cogeneration’ means cogeneration which satisfies the definition of high efficiency cogeneration as set out in Article 2(34) of Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/3…
+ (113) ‘food based biofuel’ means a biofuel produced from cereal and other starch rich crops, sugars and oil crops as defined in the Commission's Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 98/70/EC relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and a…
+ (120) ‘Union minimum tax level’ means the minimum level of taxation provided for in the Union legislation; for energy products and electricity it means the minimum level of taxation laid down in Annex I to Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 restructuring the Community framework for the …
+ (130) ‘energy infrastructure’ means any physical equipment or facility which is located within the Union or linking the Union to one or more third countries and falling under the following categories: (a) concerning electricity: (i) infrastructure for transmission, as defined in Article 2(3) by Dire…
+ (131) ‘internal energy market legislation’ includes Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity, Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common …
+ (137) ‘passive network’ means a network without any active element, such as: civil engineering infrastructure, pipes, ducts, inspection chambers, manholes, dark fibre, cabinets, power supply, antenna installations, passive antennas, masts, poles and towers;
+ (139a) ‘premises passed’ means premises which can be connected within a short period of time at the normal activation fee for the end-user, regardless of whether those premises are connected to the network. An operator shall report premises as passed only if, following a request from an end-user, it…
+ (139b) ‘socioeconomic drivers’ means entities which by their mission, nature or location can directly or indirectly generate important socioeconomic benefits to citizens, business and local communities located in their surrounding territory or in their area of influence, including among others publi…
+ (139c) ‘5G corridor’ means a transport path, road, railway or inland waterway, fully covered with digital connectivity infrastructure, in particular 5G systems, and enabling the uninterrupted provision of synergy digital services as defined in Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 of the European Parliament and…
+ (145) ‘airline’ means any airline with a valid operating licence issued by a Member State or a Member of the Common European Aviation Area pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (22);
+ (151) ‘ground handling services’ means services provided to airport users at airports as described in the Annex to Council Directive 96/67/EC (23);
+ (165) ‘infrastructure for the collection of ship-generated waste and cargo residues’ means fixed, floating or mobile port facilities capable of receiving ship-generated waste or cargo residues as defined in Directive 2000/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (24).