2006/570/EC: Commission Decision of 14 December 2004 on a German aid scheme for Bavarian machinery rings (notified under document number C(2004) 4771)

The financial contributions granted by Germany to Bavarian farmers through the Bavarian machinery rings in the form of subsidised services involving the coordination of provision of machinery and labour do not constitute aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the Treaty.

The State aid which Germany has granted to the Kuratorium bayerischer Maschinen- und Betriebshilferinge e.V., in so far as it has not been passed on to the machinery rings, and in so far as it exceeds the ceiling of EUR 100000 per beneficiary over any period of three years laid down in Regulation (EC) No 69/2001, is incompatible with the common market.

The State aid which Germany has granted to machinery rings and their subsidiaries, in so far as it has not been passed on to farmers as demonstrated by the German authorities in accordance with Article 4, and in so far as it exceeds the ceiling of EUR 100000 per beneficiary over any period of three years laid down in Regulation (EC) No 69/2001, is incompatible with the common market.

For the purposes of establishing the incompatible aid referred to in Articles 2 and 3, the German authorities shall submit a calculation of the average cost of services provided to farmers by machinery rings having no commercial subsidiary.

Germany shall take all necessary measures to recover from the beneficiaries the aid unlawfully paid to them referred to in Articles 2 and 3. Recovery shall be effected without delay and in accordance with the procedures of national law provided that they allow the immediate and effective execution of this Decision. The aid to be recovered shall include interest from the date on which it was at the disposal of the beneficiaries up to the date of its recovery. Interest shall be calculated as laid down in Chapter V of Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 .

This Decision is addressed to the Federal Republic of Germany.