2006/945/EC: Commission Decision of 21 September 2005 on the implementation of aid scheme N192/1997 by Italy — Autonomous Province of Bolzano (notified under document number C(2005) 2723) Text with EEA relevance

The implementation criteria for Provincial Law No 4/97, adopted by Resolution No 4607 of 17 December 2001, are illegal because of the failure to notify the Commission in accordance with Article 88(3) of the Treaty. This means that the implementation of aid scheme N192/1997 was unlawful, as was, indirectly, that of scheme NN69/1995.

The following aid measures provided for in Resolution 4607/2001 are incompatible with the common market: a) all investment aid for large enterprises; b) aid for SMEs that was granted for replacement investment and the portion of any investment aid grant which is over the 15 % gross aid-intensity threshold in the case of small enterprises and the 7,5 % threshold in the case of medium-sized enterprises; c) investment aid for microenterprises, other than that provided for in Article 3, which is in excess of a gross aid intensity of 15 %; d) following the entry into force of the new Community guidelines on state aid for environmental protection and the acceptance by the Member State of the proposal for appropriate measures to adapt the schemes previously approved in accordance with point 77 of the guidelines referred to above, namely from 1 January 2002: i. the portion of environmental protection investment aid to help adjustment to new mandatory Community standards that have recently entered into force which is over the 15 % gross aid-intensity threshold in the case of SMEs, and without exception where the recipients are large enterprises. ii. investment aid for environmental protection for the purpose of improving on mandatory Community standards, or in the absence of such standards, for the portion in excess of the gross aid intensity of 30 % in the case of large enterprises (40 % for SMEs); iii. all aid for environment-related consultancy/advisory activities for large enterprises; e) aid to enterprises for internationalisation, except aid that is confined to SMEs for an enterprise's first participation in a fair or exhibition, and aid that satisfies the criteria set out in the Commission communication on short-term export-credit insurance ; f) contributions described as employment aid (consisting in fact of aid for consultancy/advisory services and for the cost of registering trademarks) received by large enterprises; g) all aid for consultancy services received by large enterprises; h) aid of an intensity of 80 % granted for joint projects under Community programmes, the recipients of which include enterprises.

The measures provided for in the new implementation criteria for scheme N192/97, notified by letter A/34747 of 25 June 2004, amended and supplemented by letter A/34426 of 2 June 2005 for microenterprises employing no more than two persons engaged in specific craft activities corresponding to typical traditional trades threatened with extinction and to local activities in the distributive sector, exhaustively listed in the implementation criteria referred to above, do not constitute aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the Treaty.

Measures other than those referred to in Article 3 that are provided for in the new implementation criteria for scheme N192/97, notified by letter A/34747 of 25 June 2004, amended and supplemented by letter A/34426 of 2 June 2005, are compatible with the common market.

1 Italy shall take all necessary measures to recover from the recipients any illegal and incompatible aid referred to in Article 2.

2 Italy shall suspend all payments of incompatible aid from the date of notification of this Decision.

3 Recovery shall be effected without delay and in accordance with the procedures of national law provided that they allow the immediate and effective enforcement of this Decision.

4 The aid to be recovered shall include interest charged from the date on which it was at the disposal of the recipients until the date of its recovery.

5 Interest shall be calculated on the basis of Chapter V of Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 of 21 April 2004 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the EC Treaty.

6 Within two months of the date of notification of this Decision, Italy shall order all the recipients of the aid referred to in Article 2 to repay the aid unlawfully granted with interest calculated as described above.

Within two months of the date of notification of this Decision, Italy shall inform the Commission of the measures taken to comply with it by completing the questionnaire annexed hereto. In particular, Italy shall, by the same deadline, send a complete list of all the aid measures referred to in this Decision, giving for each measure a breakdown of the amount granted, the amount compatible as a result of one of the cited exemptions, and the amount to be recovered. Finally, again by the same deadline, Italy shall send all the documents demonstrating that it has initiated the procedures for recovering the unlawful aid from the recipients.

This Decision is addressed to the Italian Republic.