The European Commission has prolonged the validity of several EU state aid rules applicable in the agricultural, forestry and fisheries sectors, for a further two years.
The rules would otherwise expire at the end of 2020.
This includes an extension, until December 31, 2022, of the EU guidelines for state aid in the agricultural and forestry sectors and in rural areas; the Block Exemption Regulations applicable to state aid in the areas of agriculture, forestry, fishery and aquaculture; as well as the regulation on ‘de minimis aid’ for fishery and aquaculture.
Regulations due to expire
All three regulations were set to expire on December 31, 2020, and are currently being reviewed by the European Commission.
The design of the future rules will largely depend on the outcome of the ongoing reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
New state aid rules, closely aligned to the reformed CAP and CFP, will be developed during the period of extension, with a view to entering into force on January 1, 2023.
What is state aid?
State aid is the use of national money to fund various projects, schemes or activities in member states. All state-aided schemes are subject to regulations laid down by the European Commission.
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the commission has also adjusted the rules to allow the granting of state aid to undertakings (businesses/projects) that were not already in difficulty on December 31, 2019, but became undertakings in difficulty in the period from January 1, 2020, until June 30, 2021.