0
On 11 April 2024, the Commission consulted Member States on the persistence of a serious disturbance of the economy affecting in particular the primary agricultural, fisheries and aquaculture sectors. The Commission has also taken note of the European Council's conclusions of 17 and 18 April 2024 on the importance of a resilient and sustainable agricultural sector for food security and the EU's strategic autonomy, and its encouragement to pursue the work on a possible extension of the TCTF.
Against this background, the Commission has decided to adopt a limited prolongation of section 2.1 of the TCTF for the primary agricultural sector, as well as the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. This decision to delay the phase-out of the TCTF allows Member States to provide limited amounts of aid to companies active in these sectors for further six months, until 31 December 2024. It will give Member States more time to implement support measures, if needed.
The prolongation does not include an increase of the ceilings set out for the limited amounts of aid. Member States will therefore continue to be able to provide companies affected by the crisis or by the subsequent sanctions and countersanctions, including by Russia, up to €280,000 for the agricultural sector and up to €335,000 for the fisheries and aquaculture sectors.
Today's amendment does not affect the remaining provisions of the TCTF:
- Section 2.1, allowing Member States to grant limited amounts of aid, will phase-out by 30 June 2024 for all sectors other than agricultural primary production, fisheries and aquaculture;
- Section 2.4, allowing Member States to grant aid to compensate for high energy prices, will also phase out by 30 June 2024;
- Sections 2.2 and 2.3 on liquidity support in form of State guarantees and subsidised loans, and section 2.7 on measures aimed at supporting electricity demand reduction have already phased-out on 31 December 2023; while
- Sections 2.5, 2.6 and 2.8 aimed at accelerating the green transition and reducing fuel dependencies will remain available until 31 December 2025.
In parallel to today's amendment, the Commission will also launch a revision of the Agricultural de minimis Regulation, in light of the inflationary pressure in recent years and the current context with, amongst others, high commodity prices affecting the agricultural sector. This Regulation exempts small amounts of support in the agricultural sector from State aid control since they are deemed to have no impact on competition and trade in the Single Market. More specifically, Member States can grant support to the agricultural sector of up to €20,000 per beneficiary (€25,000, if the Member State has a central register to register de minimis aid) over a period of 3 years without prior notification to the Commission for approval. The Agricultural de minimis rules were last revised in 2019 and will need a revision before they are currently set to expire on 31 December 2027.
May 2, 2024/ European Commission/ European Union.
https://ec.europa.eu
