Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/1237 of 23 July 2021 amending Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (Text with EEA relevance)

‘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 incompatible with the internal market, with the exception of aid schemes to make good the damage caused by certain natural disasters and aid schemes covered by Article 19b, Section 2a as well as Section 16 of Chapter III; (b) ad hoc aid in favour of an undertaking as referred to in point (a); (c) aid to undertakings in difficulty, with the exception of aid schemes to make good the damage caused by certain natural disasters, start-up aid schemes, regional operating aid schemes, aid schemes covered by Article 19b, aid to SMEs under Article 56f and aid to financial intermediaries under Articles 16, 21, 22 and 39 as well as Section 16 of Chapter III, provided undertakings in difficulty are not treated more favourably than other undertakings. However, this Regulation shall apply, by derogation, to undertakings which were not in difficulty on 31 December 2019 but became undertakings in difficulty during the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021.’;

‘4 Aid without identifiable eligible costs exempted under Article 19b, 20a, 21, 22 or 23, Article 56e(5), point (a)(ii) or (iii), Article 56e(8), point (d), Article 56e(10) and Article 56f 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, up to the highest relevant total financing threshold fixed in the specific circumstances of each case by this or another block exemption regulation or decision adopted by the Commission. Aid without identifiable eligible costs exempted under Article 56e(5), point (a)(ii) or (iii), Article 56e(8), point (d), Article 56e(10) and Article 56f may be cumulated with other aid without identifiable eligible costs exempted under those Articles.’;

‘1 The Member State concerned shall ensure the publication on a comprehensive State aid website, at national or regional level of: (a) the summary information referred to in Article 11 in the standardised format laid down in Annex II or a link providing access to it; (b) the full text of each aid measure, as referred to in Article 11 or a link providing access to the full text; (c) the information referred to in Annex III on each individual aid award exceeding EUR 500000, or for beneficiaries active in primary agricultural production, other than those to which Section 2a applies, each individual aid award for such production exceeding EUR 60000 and for beneficiaries active in the fishery and aquaculture sector, other than those to which Section 2a applies, each individual aid award exceeding EUR 30000. As regards aid granted to European Territorial Cooperation projects referred to in Article 20, the information referred to in this paragraph shall be placed on the website of the Member State in which the Managing Authority concerned, as defined in Article 21 of Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council , or Article 45 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1059 of the European Parliament and of the Council , whichever is applicable, is located. Alternatively, the participating Member States may decide that each of them shall provide the information relating to the aid measures within their territory on the respective websites. The publication obligations laid down in the first subparagraph shall not apply to aid granted to European Territorial Cooperation projects referred to in Article 20a, as well as European Innovation Partnership for agricultural productivity and sustainability (“EIP”) Operational Group projects and community-led local development (“CLLD”) projects under Article 19b.

2 For schemes in the form of tax advantages, and for schemes covered by Article 16 and 21 the conditions set out in paragraph 1, first subparagraph, point (c) of this Article shall be considered fulfilled if Member States publish the required information on individual aid amounts in the following ranges (in EUR million): 0,03-0,5 (only for fishery and aquaculture); 0,06-0,5 (only for primary agricultural production); 0,5-1; 1-2; 2-5; 5-10; 10-30; and 30 and more.

‘3a If a financial product has been implemented by a Member State under the InvestEU Member State compartment or by a national promotional bank acting as an implementing partner or acting as a financial intermediary under InvestEU, the Member State remains under the obligation to ensure the publication of information as laid down in paragraph 1, first subparagraph, point (c). However, this obligation is deemed to be fulfilled if the implementing partner provides to the Commission the information as laid down in paragraph 1, first subparagraph, point (c), no later than 30 June of the year following the financial year in which the aid was granted and if the guarantee agreement signed between the Commission and the implementing partner stipulates the requirement to provide to the Commission the information as laid down in paragraph 1, first subparagraph, point (c).’;

‘1 Member States, or in the case of aid granted to European Territorial Cooperation projects under Article 20, alternatively the Member State in which the Managing Authority, as defined in Article 21 of Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013, or Article 45 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1059, whichever is applicable, is located, shall transmit to the Commission: (a) via the Commission’s electronic notification system, the summary information about each aid measure exempted under this Regulation in the standardised format laid down in Annex II, together with a link providing access to the full text of the aid measure, including its amendments, within 20 working days following its entry into force; and (b) an annual report, as referred to in Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 in electronic form, on the application of this Regulation, containing the information indicated in that Regulation, in respect of each whole year or each part of the year during which this Regulation applies. For financial products implemented by a Member State under the InvestEU Member State compartment or by a national promotional bank acting as an implementing partner or acting as a financial intermediary under InvestEU, this obligation of the Member State is deemed to be fulfilled if the implementing partner provides the annual reports to the Commission, in accordance with the relevant reporting requirements laid down in the guarantee agreement signed between the Commission and the implementing partner. This first subparagraph shall not apply in respect of aid granted to European Territorial Cooperation projects referred to in Article 20a, as well as to European Innovation Partnership for agricultural productivity and sustainability (“EIP”) Operational Group projects and to community-led local development (“CLLD”) projects as referred to Article 19b.

‘1 In order to enable the Commission to monitor the aid exempted from notification by this Regulation, Member States, or alternatively, in the case of aid granted to European Territorial Cooperation projects referred to in Article 20, the Member State in which the Managing Authority is located, shall maintain detailed records with the information and supporting documentation necessary to establish that all the conditions laid down in this Regulation are fulfilled. Such records shall be kept for 10 years from the date on which the ad hoc aid was granted or the last aid was granted under the scheme. The first subparagraph shall not apply in respect of aid granted to European Territorial Cooperation projects referred to in Article 20a, as well as to European Innovation Partnership for agricultural productivity and sustainability Operational Group projects and to community-led local development (“CLLD”) projects as referred to Article 19b.’;

‘15 For an initial investment linked to European territorial cooperation projects covered by Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013, or Regulation (EU) 2021/1059, the aid intensity of the area in which the initial investment is located shall apply to all beneficiaries participating in the project. If the initial investment is located in two or more assisted areas, the maximum aid intensity shall be the one applicable in the assisted area where the highest amount of eligible costs is incurred. In assisted areas eligible for aid under Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty, this provision shall apply to large undertakings only if the initial investment concerns a new economic activity.’;

‘4 The eligible costs shall be the overall costs of the urban development project to the extent that they comply with Articles 37 and 65 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, or Articles 67 and 68 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, whichever is applicable.’;

1 Aid for costs incurred by SMEs participating in CLLD projects, designated as LEADER local development under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, covered by Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 or Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, as well as for EIP Operational Group projects covered by Article 35 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 The following costs, set out in Article 35(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 or Article 34(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, whichever is applicable, shall be eligible for CLLD and EIP Operational Group projects: (a) the costs of preparatory support, capacity building, training and networking with a view of preparing and implementing a CLLD strategy or an EIP Operational Group project; (b) implementation of approved operations; (c) preparation and implementation of the group’s cooperation activities; (d) running costs linked to the management of the implementation of the CLLD strategy or of the EIP Operational Group project; (e) animation of the EIP community or the CLLD strategy in order to facilitate exchange between stakeholders to provide information and to promote the strategy and the projects, and to support potential beneficiaries with a view of developing operations and preparing applications.

3 The aid intensity shall not exceed the maximum co-financing rates provided for in the Fund specific Regulations supporting CLLD and EIP Operational Groups.

1 Aid to undertakings participating in, or benefitting from, CLLD or EIP Operational Group projects, as referred to in Article 19a(1), shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 The total amount of aid under this Article granted per project shall not exceed EUR 200000 for CLLD projects, and EUR 350000 for EIP Operational Group projects.’;

1 Aid for costs incurred by undertakings participating in European Territorial Cooperation projects covered by Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013 or Regulation (EU) 2021/1059 shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 To the extent that they are linked to the cooperation project, the following costs, which shall have the meaning ascribed to them in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 481/2014 , or Articles 38 to 44 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1059, whichever is applicable, shall be eligible costs: (a) staff costs; (b) office and administrative costs; (c) travel and accommodation costs; (d) external expertise and services costs; (e) equipment costs; (f) costs for infrastructure and works.

3 The aid intensity shall not exceed the maximum co-financing rate provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 or Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 and/or Regulation (EU) 2021/1059, whichever is applicable.

1 Aid to undertakings for their participation in European Territorial Cooperation projects covered by Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013 or by Regulation (EU) 2021/1059 shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 The total amount of aid under this Article granted to an undertaking per project shall not exceed EUR 20000.’;

1 Aid for SMEs for research and development projects as well as feasibility studies awarded a Seal of Excellence quality label under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 The eligible activities of the aided research and development project or feasibility study shall be those defined as eligible under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme rules, excluding activities going beyond experimental development activities.

3 The categories, maximum amounts and methods of calculation of eligible costs of the aided research and development project or feasibility study shall be those defined as eligible under the Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe programme rules.

4 The maximum aid amount shall not exceed EUR 2,5 million per SME per research and development project or feasibility study.

5 The total public funding provided for each research and development project or feasibility study shall not exceed the funding rate set out for that research and development project or feasibility study under the Horizon 2020 or under the Horizon Europe programme rules.

1 Aid for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions and ERC Proof of Concept actions awarded a Seal of Excellence quality label under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 The eligible activities of the aided action shall be those defined as eligible under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme rules.

3 The categories, maximum amounts and methods of calculation of eligible costs of the aided action shall be those defined as eligible under the Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe programme rules.

4 The total public funding provided for each aided action shall not exceed the maximum level of support provided for in the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme.

1 Aid provided to a co-funded research and development project or a feasibility study (including research and development projects implemented under a European institutionalised Partnership based on Article 185 or Article 187 of the Treaty or a programme co-fund action, as defined in the Horizon Europe programme rules) which is implemented by at least three Member States, or alternatively two Member States and at least one associated country, and selected on the basis of the evaluation and ranking made by independent experts following trans-national calls in line with the Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe programme rules, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 The eligible activities of the aided research and development project or feasibility study shall be those defined as eligible under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme rules, excluding activities going beyond experimental development activities.

3 The categories, maximum amounts and methods of calculation of eligible costs shall be those defined as eligible under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme rules.

4 The total public funding provided shall not exceed the funding rate established for the research and development project or feasibility study following the selection, ranking and evaluation under the Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe programme rules.

5 The funding provided by the Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe programme shall cover at least 30 % of the total eligible costs of a research and innovation action or an innovation action as defined under the Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe programme.

1 Aid provided to co-funded Teaming actions, involving at least two Member States and selected on the basis of the evaluation and ranking made by independent experts following transnational calls under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme rules, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 The eligible activities of the co-funded Teaming action shall be those defined as eligible under the Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe programme rules. Activities going beyond experimental development activities are excluded.

3 The categories, maximum amounts and methods of calculation of eligible costs shall be those defined as eligible under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme rules. In addition, investment costs in project-related tangible and intangible assets shall be eligible.

4 The total public funding provided shall not exceed the funding rate established for the Teaming action following the selection, ranking and evaluation under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme rules. In addition, for investments in project related tangible and intangible assets the aid shall not exceed 70 % of the investment costs.

5 For investment aid for infrastructures under a Teaming action the following additional conditions shall apply: (a) where the infrastructure pursues both economic and non-economic activities, the financing, costs and revenues of each type of activity shall be accounted for separately on the basis of consistently applied and objectively justifiable cost accounting principles; (b) the price charged for the operation or use of the infrastructure shall correspond to a market price; (c) access to the infrastructure shall be open to several users and be granted on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis. Undertakings which have financed at least 10 % of the investment costs of the infrastructure may be granted preferential access under more favourable conditions. In order to avoid overcompensation, such access shall be proportional to the undertaking’s contribution to the investment costs and these conditions shall be made publicly available; (d) where the infrastructure receives public funding for both economic and non-economic activities, Member States shall put in place a monitoring and claw-back mechanism in order to ensure that the applicable aid intensity is not exceeded as a result of an increase in the share of economic activities compared to the situation envisaged at the time of awarding the aid.’;

1 Aid for the deployment of recharging or refuelling infrastructure for the supply of energy to zero and low emission road vehicles for transport purposes shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 This Article shall only cover aid granted for the deployment of recharging or refuelling infrastructures that supply vehicles with electricity or renewable hydrogen for transport purposes. The Member State shall ensure that the requirement to supply renewable hydrogen is complied with throughout the economic lifetime of the infrastructure.

3 The eligible costs shall be the costs of the construction, installation or upgrade of the recharging or refuelling infrastructure. These may include the costs of the recharging or refuelling infrastructure itself, installation of or upgrades to electrical or other components, including power transformers that are required for connecting the recharging or refuelling infrastructure to the grid or to a local electricity or hydrogen production or storage unit, as well as related technical equipment, civil engineering works, land or road adaptations, installation costs and costs for obtaining related permits. The costs of local production or storage units generating or storing the electricity and the costs of local hydrogen production units are excluded.

4 Aid under this Article shall be granted in a competitive bidding process on the basis of clear, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria and the aid intensity may reach up to 100 % of the eligible costs.

5 The aid granted to any one beneficiary shall not exceed 40 % of the overall budget of the scheme concerned.

6 Aid under this Article shall only be granted for the construction, installation or upgrade of recharging or refuelling infrastructure accessible to the public and providing non-discriminatory access to users, including in relation to tariffs, authentication and payment methods and other terms and conditions of use.

7 The necessity of aid to incentivise the deployment of recharging or refuelling infrastructure of the same category (for example, for recharging infrastructure: normal or high power) shall be verified through an ex ante open public consultation or an independent market study. In particular, it shall be verified that no such infrastructure is likely to be deployed on commercial terms within three years from the publication of the aid measure.

8 By way of derogation from paragraph 7, the necessity of aid for recharging or refuelling infrastructure can be presumed where either battery electric vehicles (for recharging infrastructures) or hydrogen vehicles (for refuelling infrastructures) represent respectively less than 2 % of the total number of vehicles of the same category registered in the Member State concerned. For the purpose of this paragraph, passenger cars and light commercial vehicles shall be considered as being part of the same category of vehicles.

9 Any concession or other entrustment to a third party to operate the supported recharging or refuelling infrastructure shall be assigned on a competitive, transparent and non-discriminatory basis, having due regard to the applicable procurement rules.’;

1 Aid for fixed broadband network deployment shall be compatible with the internal market pursuant to Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 The eligible costs shall be all costs for the construction, management and operation of a fixed broadband network. The maximum aid amount for a project shall be established on the basis of a competitive selection process as set out in paragraph 6, point (a). Where an investment is carried out in accordance with paragraph 6, point (b), without a competitive selection process, the aid amount shall not exceed the difference between the eligible costs and the operating profit of the investment. The operating profit shall be deducted from the eligible costs ex ante on the basis of reasonable projections and verified ex post through a claw-back mechanism.

3 The following alternative types of investment are eligible: (a) fixed broadband network deployment to connect households and socioeconomic drivers in areas where there is no network able to reliably provide speeds of at least 30 Mbps download (threshold speeds) present or credibly planned to be deployed within three years from the moment of publication of the planned aid measure or within the same time horizon as the deployment of the subsidised network, which shall not be shorter than two years. This shall be verified by mapping and public consultation in accordance with paragraph 4. Areas with at least one present or credibly planned network able to reliably provide speeds of at least 30 Mbps download shall be excluded. The aided network shall ensure at least a doubling of download and upload speeds compared to the present or credibly planned networks and shall be able to reliably provide at least 30 Mbps download speeds (target speeds); (b) fixed broadband network deployment to connect households and socioeconomic drivers in areas where there is no network able to reliably provide speeds of at least 100 Mbps download (threshold speeds) present or credibly planned to be deployed within three years from the moment of publication of the planned aid measure or within the same time horizon as the deployment of the subsidised network, which shall not be shorter than two years. This shall be verified by mapping and public consultation in accordance with paragraph 4. Areas with at least one present or credibly planned network able to reliably provide speeds of at least 100 Mbps download shall be excluded. The aided network shall ensure at least a doubling of download and upload speeds compared to the present or credibly planned networks and shall be able to reliably provide at least 300 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload speeds (target speeds); (c) fixed broadband network deployment to connect only socioeconomic drivers in areas where there is only one network able to reliably provide speeds of at least 100 Mbps download but below 300 Mbps download (threshold speeds) present or credibly planned to be deployed within three years from the moment of publication of the planned aid measure or within the same time horizon as the deployment of the subsidised network, which shall not be shorter than two years. This shall be verified by mapping and public consultation in accordance with paragraph 4. Areas with at least one present or credibly planned network able to reliably provide speeds of at least 300 Mbps download shall be excluded. Areas with at least two present or credibly planned networks able to reliably provide speeds of at least 100 Mbps download shall also be excluded. The aided network shall ensure at least a doubling of download and upload speeds compared to the present or credibly planned networks and shall be able to reliably provide at least 1 Gbps download speeds (target speeds).

4 The mapping and public consultation referred to in paragraph 3 shall meet all the following requirements: (a) the mapping shall identify the geographic target areas envisaged to be covered under the public intervention and shall take into account all present public and private networks able to reliably provide the threshold speeds identified in paragraph 3 depending on the type of investment. The mapping shall be performed: (i) for purely fixed networks, at address level on the basis of premises passed and (ii) for fixed wireless access networks, at address level on the basis of premises passed or on the basis of maximum 100 x100 metre grids. For points (i) and (ii) the mapping shall always be verified through a public consultation; (b) the public consultation shall be carried out by the competent public authority through publication of the main characteristics of the planned measure and the list of geographic target areas identified in the mapping exercise in accordance with point (a) on an appropriate website (including at national level). The public consultation shall invite interested parties to comment on the measure and to submit substantiated information in accordance with point (a) regarding their networks able to reliably provide the threshold speeds set out in paragraph 3 in the target area that are present or credibly planned to be deployed within three years from the moment of publication of the planned aid measure. If the granting authority takes a shorter or longer time horizon than three years for the deployment of the subsidised infrastructure, the same time horizon, which cannot be shorter than two years, must also be used to assess whether networks referred to in the previous sentence are credibly planned to be deployed. The public consultation shall last at least 30 days.

5 The aided project shall bring a significant improvement (step change) compared to networks present or credibly planned to be deployed within three years from the moment of publication of the planned aid measure or within the same time horizon as the deployment of the subsidised network, which cannot be shorter than two years, in accordance with paragraph 4. A step change takes place if, as a result of the subsidised intervention, a significant new investment in the broadband network is undertaken and the subsidised network brings significant new capabilities to the market in terms of broadband internet access service availability and capacity, speeds and competition compared to the present or credibly planned networks. The project must include substantial investments in passive infrastructure going beyond marginal investments related merely to the upgrade of the active elements of the network.

6 The aid shall be granted as follows: (a) the aid shall be allocated to providers of electronic communications networks and services on the basis of an open, transparent and non-discriminatory competitive selection procedure in line with the principles of public procurement rules and respecting the principle of technology neutrality, without prejudice to the applicable public procurement rules, based on the most economically advantageous offer. For the purposes of the competitive selection procedure, the aid granting authority shall establish in advance objective, transparent and non-discriminatory qualitative award criteria that have to be weighed against the requested aid amount. At similar quality conditions the bidder with the lowest amount of aid requested shall be awarded the aid; (b) when the aid is granted without a competitive selection procedure to a public authority to deploy and manage, directly or through an in-house entity, a fixed broadband network, the public authority or the in-house entity, as the case may be, shall provide only wholesale services using the subsidised network. The public authority shall ensure accounting separation between the funds used for the operation of the network and other funds at its disposal. Any concession or other entrustment to a third party to build or operate the network shall be allocated through an open, transparent and non-discriminatory competitive selection procedure, in line with the principles of public procurement rules and respecting the principle of technology neutrality, without prejudice to the to the applicable public procurement rules, based on the most economically advantageous offer.

7 The operation of the subsidised network shall offer the widest possible active and passive wholesale access, in accordance with Article 2, point (139), under fair and non-discriminatory conditions, including physical unbundling. A project may offer virtual unbundling instead of physical unbundling if the virtual access product is declared as equivalent to physical unbundling by the national regulatory authority. Active wholesale access shall be granted for at least seven years and the wholesale access to the physical infrastructure including ducts or poles shall not be limited in time. The same access conditions shall apply to the entirety of the subsidised network, including on parts of the network where existing infrastructures have been used. The access obligations shall be enforced irrespective of any change in ownership, management or operation of the subsidised network. In the case of aid for the construction of ducts, the ducts shall be large enough to cater for at least three networks and different network topologies.

8 The wholesale access price shall be based on one of the following benchmarks: (i) the average published wholesale prices that prevail in other comparable, more competitive areas of the Member State or the Union; or (ii) in the absence of such published prices, the regulated prices already set or approved by the national regulatory authority for the markets and services concerned; or (iii) in the absence of such published or regulated prices, the pricing shall comply with cost orientation and the methodology mandated in accordance with the sectorial regulatory framework. Without prejudice to the competences of the national regulatory authority under the regulatory framework, the national regulatory authority shall be consulted on the terms and conditions for access, including on prices, and on disputes related to the application of this Article.

9 Member States shall put in place a monitoring and claw-back mechanism if the amount of aid granted to the project exceeds EUR 10 million.’;

1 Aid for 4G and 5G mobile network deployment shall be compatible with the internal market pursuant to Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 The eligible costs shall be all costs for the construction, management and operation of a passive mobile network. The maximum aid amount for a project shall be established on the basis of a competitive selection process as set out in paragraph 7, point (a). Where an investment is carried out in accordance with paragraph 7, point (b), without a competitive selection process, the aid amount shall not exceed the difference between the eligible costs and the operating profit of the investment. The operating profit shall be deducted from the eligible costs ex ante on the basis of reasonable projections and verified ex post through a claw-back mechanism.

3 5G investment shall be located in areas where mobile networks have not been deployed or where only mobile networks able to support mobile services of up to 3G are available and where there are no 4G and no 5G mobile networks present or credibly planned to be deployed within three years from the moment of publication of the planned aid measure or within the same time horizon as the deployment of the subsidised network, which shall not be shorter than two years. This shall be verified by mapping and public consultation in accordance with paragraph 4. 4G investment shall be located in areas where mobile networks have not been deployed or where only mobile networks able to support mobile services of up to 2G are available and where there are no 3G, 4G or 5G mobile networks present or credibly planned to be deployed within three years from the moment of publication of the planned aid measure or within the same time horizon as the deployment of the subsidised network, which shall not be shorter than two years. This shall be verified by mapping and public consultation in accordance with paragraph 4.

4 The mapping and public consultation referred to in paragraph 3 shall meet all the following requirements: (a) the mapping shall clearly identify the geographic target areas envisaged to be covered under the public intervention and shall take into account all present mobile networks, depending on the type of investment. Mapping shall be performed on the basis of maximum 100 x100 metre grids. Mapping shall always be verified through a public consultation; (b) the public consultation shall be carried out by the competent public authority through publication of the main characteristics of the planned measure and the list of geographic target areas identified in the mapping exercise in accordance with point (a) on an appropriate website (including at national level). The public consultation shall invite interested parties to comment on the measure and to submit substantiated information in accordance with point (a) regarding their mobile networks in the target area that are present or credibly planned to be deployed within three years from the moment of publication of the planned aid measure. If the granting authority takes a shorter or longer time horizon than three years for the deployment of the subsidised infrastructure, the same time horizon, which cannot be shorter than two years, must also be used to assess whether networks referred to in the previous sentence are credibly planned to be deployed. The public consultation shall last at least 30 days.

5 The aided infrastructure shall not be taken into account to meet the coverage obligations of the mobile networks operators that arise out of conditions attached to rights of use of 4G and 5G spectrum.

6 The supported project shall bring a significant improvement (step change) compared to mobile networks present or credibly planned to be deployed within three years from the moment of publication of the planned aid measure or within the same time horizon as the deployment of the subsidised network, which cannot be shorter than two years, in accordance with paragraph 4. A step change takes place if, as a result of the subsidised intervention, a significant new investment in the mobile network is undertaken and the subsidised network brings significant new capabilities to the market in terms of mobile service availability, capacity, speeds and competition compared to the present or credibly planned networks. The project must include substantial investments in passive infrastructure going beyond marginal investments related merely to the upgrade of the active elements of the network.

7 The aid shall be granted as follows: (a) the aid shall be allocated to providers of electronic communications networks and services on the basis of an open, transparent and non-discriminatory competitive selection process in line with the principles of public procurement rules and respecting the principle of technology neutrality, without prejudice to the applicable public procurement rules, based on the most economically advantageous offer. For the purposes of the competitive selection procedure, the aid granting authority shall establish in advance objective, transparent and non-discriminatory qualitative award criteria that have to be weighed against the requested aid amount. At similar quality conditions the bidder with the lowest amount of aid requested shall be awarded the aid; (b) when the aid is granted without a competitive selection procedure to a public authority to deploy and manage, directly or through an in-house entity, a passive mobile network, the public authority or the in-house entity, as the case may be, shall provide only wholesale services using the subsidised network. The public authority shall ensure accounting separation between the funds used for the operation of the network and other funds at the disposal of the public authority. Any concession or other entrustment to a third party to build or operate the network shall be allocated through an open, transparent and non-discriminatory competitive selection process, in line with the principles of public procurement rules and respecting the principle of technology neutrality without prejudice to the to the applicable public procurement rules, based on the most economically advantageous offer.

8 The operation of the subsidised network shall offer the widest possible active and passive wholesale access, in accordance with Article 2, point (139), under fair and non-discriminatory conditions. Active wholesale access shall be granted for at least seven years and wholesale access to the physical infrastructure including ducts or poles shall not be limited in time. The same access conditions shall apply on the entirety of the subsidised network, including on the parts of such network where existing infrastructures have been used. The access obligations shall be enforced irrespective of any change in ownership, management or operation of the subsidised network. In the case of aid for the construction of ducts, the ducts shall be large enough to cater at least for all existing mobile networks operators.

9 The wholesale access price shall be based on one of the following benchmarks: (i) the average published wholesale prices that prevail in other comparable, more competitive areas of the Member State or the Union; or (ii) in the absence of such published prices, the regulated prices already set or approved by the national regulatory authority for the markets and services concerned; or (iii) in the absence of such published or regulated prices, the pricing shall comply with the cost orientation and the methodology mandated in accordance with the sectorial regulatory framework. Without prejudice to the competences of the national regulatory authority under the regulatory framework, the national regulatory authority shall be consulted on the terms and conditions for access, including on prices, and on disputes related to the application of this Article.

10 Member States shall put in place a monitoring and claw-back mechanism if the amount of aid granted to the project exceeds EUR 10 million.

11 The use of the publicly funded 4G or the 5G network to provide fixed wireless access services shall only be allowed as follows: (a) in areas where there is no network able to reliably provide speeds of at least 30 Mbps download present or credibly planned to be deployed within three years from the moment of publication of the planned aid measure or within the same time horizon as the deployment of the subsidised network, which cannot be shorter than two years, if the following cumulative conditions are met: (i) the mapping and public consultation exercise also takes into account the fixed broadband networks present or credibly planned determined according to Article 52(4); (ii) the supported 4G or 5G fixed wireless access solution is able to reliably provide speeds of at least 30 Mbps download and at least a doubling of download and upload speed compared to the fixed networks present or credibly planned in those areas; (b) in areas where there is no network able to reliably provide speeds of at least 100 Mbps download present or credibly planned to be deployed within three years from the moment of publication of the planned aid measure or within the same time horizon as the deployment of the subsidised network, which cannot be shorter than two years, if the following cumulative conditions are met: (i) the mapping and public consultation exercise takes also into account the fixed broadband networks present or credibly planned determined according to Article 52(4); (ii) the supported 4G or 5G fixed wireless access solution is able to reliably provide speeds of at least 300 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload and at least a doubling of download and upload speed compared to the fixed networks present or credibly planned in those areas.

1 Aid for projects of common interest in the area of trans-European digital connectivity infrastructure financed under Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 or awarded a Seal of Excellence quality label under that Regulation shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 Projects shall fulfil the cumulative general compatibility conditions laid down in paragraph 3. They shall, in addition, fall under one of the categories of eligible projects laid down in paragraph 4 and shall fulfil all specific compatibility conditions for the relevant category laid down in that paragraph. Only projects which refer solely to the elements and entities specified under each relevant category in paragraph 4 shall fall within the scope of the exemption in paragraph 1.

3 The general cumulative compatibility conditions shall be the following: (a) the beneficiary must provide a financial contribution of at least 25 % of the eligible costs through its own resources or through external financing not containing any public financial support. When the 25 % contribution of the beneficiary is provided through external financing via an investment platform combining different sources of financing, the condition that external financing must not contain any public financial support laid down in the previous sentence is replaced by the requirement of a presence in the platform of at least 30 % of private investment; (b) only costs that are eligible investment costs under Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 for the deployment of the infrastructure are eligible for aid; (c) the project must be selected in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 in one of the following ways: (i) by an independent financial intermediary appointed by the Commission on the basis of commonly agreed investment guidelines; (ii) by the Commission through a competitive bidding process based on clear, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria; (iii) by independent experts appointed by the Commission; (d) the project must enable connectivity capabilities going beyond the requirements relating to any existing legal obligations, such as those attached to a right to use spectrum; (e) the project must ensure third party open wholesale access including unbundling under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions in accordance with Article 52(7) and (8) or Article 52a(8) and (9) as appropriate.

4 The categories of eligible projects and the specific cumulative compatibility conditions applicable to them shall be the following: (a) investments in the deployment of a cross-border section of a 5G corridor along a transport corridor identified in the trans-European transport network guidelines as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 (TEN-T corridors) that meet the following specific cumulative conditions: (i) the project consists of a cross-border section of a 5G corridor which crosses the border between two or more Member States, or crosses the border of at least one Member State and at least one European Economic Area country; (ii) the total cross-border sections of 5G corridors located in a Member State shall not represent more than 15 % of the total length of the 5G corridors along the trans-European transport core network in that Member State that are not covered by any existing legal obligations, such as those attached to a right to use spectrum. Exceptionally, if a Member State supports the deployment of cross-border 5G corridors along its trans-European transport comprehensive network, the total cross-border sections of 5G corridors located in that Member State shall not represent more than 15 % of the total length of the 5G corridors along the trans-European transport comprehensive network in that Member State that are not covered by any existing legal obligations, such as those attached to a right to use spectrum; (iii) the project ensures a significant new investment in the 5G mobile network suitable for connected and automated mobility services going beyond marginal investments related merely to the upgrade of the active elements of the network; (iv) the project supports the deployment of new passive infrastructure only if existing passive infrastructure cannot be reused; (b) investments in the deployment of a cross-border section of a pan-European terabit backbone network supporting the objectives of the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking by interconnecting certain computing facilities, supercomputing facilities and data infrastructures that meet the following specific cumulative conditions: (i) the project shall deploy or acquire connectivity assets, including Indefeasible Rights of Use, dark fibre or equipment, for building a cross-border section of a pan-European backbone network that supports the interconnection with unconstrained end to end connectivity of a minimum of 1 Tbps, of at least two computing facilities, supercomputing facilities or data infrastructures that: (1) are hosting entities of the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking established in accordance with Council Regulation (EU) 2018/1488 , or are research infrastructures and other computing and data infrastructures supporting research flagships and missions set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EC) No 723/2009 that contribute to the objectives of the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking; and (2) are located in at least two Member States or at least one Member State and at least one member of the European Research Area; (ii) the project ensures a significant new investment in the backbone network going beyond marginal investments, such as investments related to mere software upgrades or licensing; (iii) the acquisition of connectivity assets is carried out through public procurement; (iv) the project supports the deployment of new passive infrastructure only if existing passive infrastructure cannot be reused; (c) investments in the deployment of a cross-border section of a backbone network interconnecting cloud infrastructures of certain socioeconomic drivers that meet the following specific cumulative conditions: (i) the project interconnects cloud infrastructures of socioeconomic drivers that are public administrations or public or private entities entrusted with the operation of services of general interest or of services of general economic interest within the meaning of Article 106(2) of the Treaty; (ii) the project consists of a cross-border section of the deployment of new cross-border backbone networks or a significant upgrade of existing ones that (1) crosses the border between two or more Member States; or (2) crosses the border between at least one Member State and at least one European Economic Area country; (iii) the project covers at least two eligible socioeconomic drivers under point (i), each operating in a different Member State or in one Member State and one European Economic Area country; (iv) the project ensures a significant new investment in the backbone network going beyond marginal investments, such as investments related to mere software upgrades or licensing. The project shall be able to reliably provide symmetric download and upload speeds of at least multiples of 10 Gbps; (v) the project supports the deployment of new passive infrastructure only if existing passive infrastructure cannot be reused; (d) investments in the deployment of a submarine cable network that meet the following specific cumulative conditions: (i) the project consists of a cross-border section of a submarine cable network which (1) crosses the border between two or more Member States; or (2) crosses the border of at least one Member State and at least one European Economic Area country. Alternatively, the entity receiving aid shall only ensure the provision of wholesale services and the supported infrastructure shall improve the connectivity of European outermost regions, overseas territories, or island regions, even within a single Member State; (ii) the project must not concern routes served already by at least two present or credibly planned backbone infrastructures; (iii) the project ensures a significant new investment in the submarine cable network, by rolling-out a new submarine cable or connection to an existing submarine cable, addressing redundancy issues and going beyond marginal investments. The project shall be able to reliably provide symmetric download and upload speeds of at least 1 Gbps; (iv) the project supports the deployment of new passive infrastructure only if existing passive infrastructure cannot be reused.

1 Aid in the form of a connectivity voucher scheme for consumers in order to facilitate teleworking, online education, training services or for SMEs shall be compatible with the internal market pursuant to Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

2 The duration of a voucher scheme shall not exceed 24 months.

3 The following categories of voucher schemes shall be eligible: (a) voucher schemes available to consumers for subscribing to a new broadband internet access service or upgrading the current subscription to a service providing speeds of at least 30 Mbps download, provided that all providers of electronic communications services able to reliably provide speeds of at least 30 Mbps download are eligible under the vouchers scheme, whereas vouchers shall not be awarded for switching providers providing the same speeds or for upgrades of an existing subscription of at least 30 Mbps download; (b) voucher schemes available to SMEs for subscribing to a new broadband internet access service or upgrading the current subscription to a service providing speeds of at least 100 Mbps download, provided that all providers able to reliably provide speeds of at least 100 Mbps download are eligible under the vouchers scheme, whereas vouchers shall not be awarded for switching providers providing the same speeds or upgrades of an existing subscription of at least 100 Mbs download.

4 The vouchers shall cover up to 50 % of the total set-up costs and monthly fee to subscribe to a broadband internet access service with the speeds specified in paragraph 3, whether on a stand-alone basis or as part of a bundle of services, which include at least the necessary terminal equipment (modem/router) for access to the internet with the speed specified in paragraph 3. The voucher shall be paid by the public authorities directly to the end-users or directly to the service provider chosen by the end-users, in which case the amount of the voucher shall be deducted from the end-users’ invoice.

5 The vouchers shall be available to consumers or SMEs only in areas where there is at least one existing network able to reliably provide the speeds specified in paragraph 3, which shall be verified by mapping and public consultation. The mapping exercise and the public consultation shall identify the geographic target areas covered by at least one network able to reliably provide the speed specified in paragraph 3 for the duration of the vouchers scheme, the eligible providers present in the area and collect information to calculate their market share. The mapping shall be performed (i) for wireline-based fixed networks at address level on the basis of premises passed; and (ii) for fixed wireless access networks or mobile networks at address level on the basis of premises passed or on the basis of maximum 100 x100 metre grids. The mapping shall always be verified through a public consultation. The public consultation shall be carried out by the competent public authority through publication of the main characteristics of the planned measure and the list of geographic target areas identified in the mapping exercise on an appropriate website, including at national level. The public consultation shall invite interested parties to comment on the draft measure and to submit substantiated information regarding their existing networks able to reliably provide the speed specified in paragraph 3. The public consultation shall last at least 30 days.

6 The voucher scheme shall comply with the principle of technological neutrality, in the sense that the vouchers can be used for subscriptions to services of any operators able to reliably provide the speeds specified in paragraph 3 over an existing broadband network, irrespective of the technologies used. In order to facilitate the choice of the consumers or SMEs, the list of eligible providers for each of the geographic target areas shall be published on-line and every interested providers shall be able to apply for being included on the basis of open, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria.

7 In order to be eligible, in cases where the provider of the broadband internet access service is vertically integrated and has a retail market share above 25 %, it must offer on the corresponding wholesale access market to any electronic communication services provider at least one wholesale access product able to ensure that the access-seeker will be able to reliably provide a retail service at the speed specified in paragraph 3, under open, transparent and non-discriminatory conditions. The wholesale access price shall be set on one of the following benchmarks: (i) the average published wholesale prices that prevail in other comparable, more competitive areas of the Member State or the Union; or (ii) in the absence of such published prices, the regulated prices already set or approved by the national regulatory authority for the markets and services concerned; or (iii) in the absence of such published or regulated prices, the pricing shall comply with the cost orientation and the methodology mandated in accordance with the sectorial regulatory framework. Without prejudice to the competences of the national regulatory authority under the regulatory framework, the national regulatory authority shall be consulted on the terms and conditions for access, including on prices, and on disputes related to the application of this Article.

1 This Section shall apply to aid involved in financial products supported by the InvestEU Fund that provide aid to implementing partners, financial intermediaries or final beneficiaries.

2 The aid shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in Chapter I, this Article, and either Article 56e or Article 56f are fulfilled.

3 The aid shall comply with all applicable conditions laid down in Regulation (EU) 2021/523 and the InvestEU Investment Guidelines laid down in the Annex to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1078 .

4 The maximum thresholds laid down in Articles 56e and 56f shall apply to the total outstanding financing, in so far as that financing provided under any financial product supported by the InvestEU Fund contains aid. The maximum thresholds shall apply: (a) per project in the case of aid covered by Article 56e(2) and (4), Article 56e(5), point (a)(i), Article 56e(6) and (7), Article 56e(8), points (a) and (b), and Article 56e(9); (b) per final beneficiary in the case of aid covered by Article 56e(5), points (a)(ii) and (iii), Article 56e(8), point (d), Article 56e(10) and Article 56f.

5 Aid shall not be granted in the form of refinancing of or guarantees on existing portfolios of financial intermediaries.

1 Aid to the final beneficiary under a financial product supported by the InvestEU Fund shall: (a) comply with the conditions set out in one of paragraphs 2 to 9; and (b) where the financing is provided in the form of loans to the final beneficiary, have an interest rate that corresponds at least to the base rate of the reference rate applicable at the time of the granting of the loan.

2 Aid for projects of common interest in the area of trans-European digital connectivity infrastructure financed under Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 or awarded a Seal of Excellence quality label under that Regulation shall only be granted to projects fulfilling all general and specific compatibility conditions laid down in Article 52b. The nominal amount of total financing provided to any final beneficiary per project under the support of the InvestEU Fund shall not exceed EUR 150 million.

3 Aid for investments in fixed broadband networks to connect only certain eligible socioeconomic drivers shall comply with the following conditions: (a) aid shall only be granted to projects fulfilling all compatibility conditions laid down in Article 52 unless indicated otherwise in points (c) and (d) of this paragraph; (b) the nominal amount of total financing provided to any final beneficiary per project under the support of the InvestEU Fund shall not exceed EUR 150 million; (c) the project connects only socioeconomic drivers that are public administrations or public or private entities entrusted with the operation of services of general interest or of services of general economic interest within the meaning of Article 106(2) of the Treaty. Projects including elements or entities other than those specified under this point are excluded; (d) by way of derogation from Article 52(4), the identified market failure must be verified either by available appropriate mapping or, when such mapping is not available, by a public consultation, as follows: (i) the mapping can be considered appropriate if it is not older than 18 months and includes all networks able to reliably provide speeds of at least 100 Mbps download but below 300 Mbps download (threshold speeds) that pass the premises of an eligible socioeconomic driver identified in point (c). This mapping must be carried out by the competent public authority, must take into account all networks able to reliably provide the threshold speeds present or credibly planned in the next three years or within the same time horizon as the planned supported intervention, which cannot be shorter than two years, and must be performed (i) for purely fixed networks at address level on the basis of premises passed; and (ii) for fixed wireless access networks at address level on the basis of premises passed or on the basis of maximum 100 x100 metre grids; (ii) the public consultation must be carried out by the competent public authority through publication on an appropriate website inviting interested parties to comment on the draft measure and to submit substantiated information regarding networks able to reliably provide speeds of at least 100 Mbps download but below 300 Mbps download (threshold speeds) present or credibly planned in the next three years or within the same time horizon as the planned supported intervention, which cannot be shorter than two years, that pass the premises of an eligible socioeconomic driver as referred to in point (c), based on information: (i) for purely fixed networks, at address level on the basis of premises passed; and (ii) for fixed wireless access networks, at address level on the basis of premises passed or on the basis of maximum 100 x100 metre grids. The public consultation shall last at least 30 days.

4 Aid for energy generation and energy infrastructure shall comply with the following conditions: (a) aid shall only be granted for investments in energy infrastructure in gas and electricity not exempted from third party access, tariff regulation and unbundling, based on the internal energy market legislation for the following categories of projects: (i) as regards gas infrastructure, projects included in the prevailing Union list of Projects of Common Interest in Annex VII to Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ; (ii) as regards electricity infrastructure: (1) smart grids, including investments in the development, smartening and modernisation of electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure; (2) other projects: which fulfil any of the criteria laid down in Article 4(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013, or which are included in the prevailing Union list of Projects of Common Interest in Annex VII to Regulation (EU) No 347/2013; (3) other projects, with the exclusion of electricity storage, in assisted areas; (iii) electricity storage projects, based on new and innovative technology, irrespective of the voltage level of the connection to the network; (b) investment aid for generation of energy from renewable energy sources shall comply with the following requirements: (i) aid shall only be granted for new installations selected on a competitive, transparent, objective and non-discriminatory basis; (ii) aid may be granted to new installations also in combination with storage equipment or hydrogen electrolysers, provided that both the electricity or hydrogen storage equipment and the hydrogen electrolysers only use the energy generated by renewable energy installation(s); (iii) aid shall not be granted for hydropower installations that do not comply with the conditions laid down in Directive 2000/60/EC; (iv) in case of installations producing biofuels, aid shall only be granted for installations producing sustainable biofuels other than food based biofuels. (c) The nominal amount of total financing provided to any final beneficiary per project referred to in point (a) under the support of the InvestEU Fund shall not exceed EUR 150 million. The nominal amount of total financing provided to any final beneficiary per project referred to in point (b) under the support of the InvestEU Fund shall not exceed EUR 75 million.

5 Aid for social, educational, cultural and natural heritage infrastructure and activities shall comply with the following conditions: (a) the nominal amount of total financing provided to any final beneficiary under the support of the InvestEU Fund shall not exceed: (i) EUR 100 million per project for investments in infrastructure used for the provision of social services and for education; EUR 150 million per project for cultural and heritage conservation purposes and activities set out in Article 53(2), including natural heritage; (ii) EUR 30 million for activities related to social services; (iii) EUR 75 million for activities related to culture and heritage conservation; and (iv) EUR 5 million for education and training. (b) aid shall not be granted for training aimed at complying with mandatory national training requirements.

6 Aid for transport and transport infrastructures shall comply with the following conditions: (a) aid for infrastructure, except ports, shall be provided only to the following projects: (i) projects of common interest as defined in Article 3, point (a), of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013, except for projects concerning port or airport infrastructure; (ii) connections to Trans-European transport network urban nodes; (iii) rolling stock only for the provision of rail transport services not covered by a public service contract within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council , provided the beneficiary is a new entrant; (iv) urban transport; (v) recharging or refuelling infrastructure that supplies vehicles with electricity or renewable hydrogen; (b) aid for port infrastructure projects shall comply with the following requirements: (i) aid may only be provided for investments in access infrastructure and port infrastructure that are made available to interested users on an equal and non-discriminatory basis on market terms; (ii) any concession or other entrustment to a third party to construct, upgrade, operate or rent aided port infrastructure shall be assigned on a competitive, transparent, non-discriminatory and unconditional basis; (iii) aid shall not be granted for investments in port superstructures. (c) the nominal amount of total financing provided under point (a) or (b) to any final beneficiary per project under the support of the InvestEU Fund shall not exceed EUR 150 million.

7 Aid for other infrastructures shall comply with the following conditions: (a) aid shall be provided only to the following projects: (i) investment in water supply and waste water infrastructure for the general public; (ii) investment in waste recycling and preparation for re-use in line with Article 47(1) to (6), insofar as it is aimed at managing waste generated by other undertakings; (iii) investment in research infrastructure; (iv) investment in the construction or upgrade of innovation cluster facilities; (b) the nominal amount of total financing provided to any final beneficiary per project under the support of the InvestEU Fund shall not exceed EUR 100 million.

8 Aid for environmental protection, including climate protection, shall comply with the following conditions: (a) aid shall be provided only to the following projects: (i) investments enabling undertakings to remedy or prevent damage to physical surroundings (including climate change) or natural resources by a beneficiary’s own activities, insofar as the investment goes beyond Union standards for environmental protection or increases the level of environmental protection in the absence of Union standards or constitutes an early adaptation to future Union standards for environmental protection; (ii) measures improving the energy efficiency of an undertaking, insofar as the energy efficiency improvements are not undertaken to ensure that the undertaking complies with Union standards already adopted, even if they are not yet in force; (iii) remediation of contaminated sites, insofar as no legal or physical person liable for the environmental damage under the applicable law is identified in line with the “polluter pays” principle as referred to in Article 45(3); (iv) environmental studies; (v) enhancement and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems where that activity contributes to protecting, conserving or restoring biodiversity and to achieving the good condition of ecosystems, or to protecting ecosystems that are already in good condition; (b) without prejudice to point (a), where the aid measure relates to the improvement of the energy efficiency of (1) residential buildings; (2) buildings dedicated to the provision of education or social services or to activities related to justice, police or fire-fighting services; (3) buildings dedicated to activities related to public administration; or (4) buildings referred to in (1), (2) or (3) and in which activities other than those mentioned in (1), (2) or (3) occupy less than 35 % of the internal floor area, aid may also be granted for measures that simultaneously improve the energy efficiency of those buildings and integrate any or all of the following investments: (i) integrated installations generating renewable energy on-site of the building concerned by the energy efficiency aid measure. The integrated on-site renewable energy installation relates to production of electricity and/or heat. It may be combined with equipment for the storage of the renewable energy generated on-site; (ii) on-site storage installations; (iii) equipment and related infrastructure incorporated to the building for the recharging of electric vehicles of the building’s users; (iv) investments for the digitalisation of the building, in particular to increase its smart readiness. The investments for the digitalisation of the building may include interventions limited to passive in-house wiring or structured cabling for data networks and, if necessary, the ancillary part of the passive network on the private property outside the building. Wiring or cabling for data networks outside the private property is excluded; The final beneficiary of the aid may be either building owner(s) or tenant(s), depending on who obtains the financing for the project; (c) the nominal amount of total financing provided to any final beneficiary per project referred to in point (a) under the support of the InvestEU Fund shall not exceed EUR 50 million; (d) the nominal amount of total financing provided per project referred to in point (b) under the support of the InvestEU Fund shall not exceed EUR 50 million per final beneficiary and building; (e) aid for measures that improve the energy efficiency of buildings referred to in point (b) may also relate to the facilitation of energy performance contracts subject to the following conditions: (i) the support takes the form of a loan or guarantee to the provider of the energy efficiency improvement measures under an energy performance contract, or consists in a financial product aimed to refinance the respective provider (e.g. factoring, forfeiting); (ii) the nominal amount of total financing provided under the support of the InvestEU Fund does not exceed EUR 30 million; (iii) the support is provided to SMEs or small mid-caps; (iv) the support is provided for energy performance contracting within the meaning of Article 2(27) of Directive 2012/27/EU; (v) the energy performance contracting relates to a building referred to in paragraph 8, point (b).

9 Aid for research, development, innovation and digitalisation shall comply with the following conditions: (a) aid may be granted for: (i) fundamental research; (ii) industrial research; (iii) experimental development; (iv) process innovation or organisational innovation for SMEs; (v) innovation advisory services and innovation support services for SMEs; (vi) digitalisation for SMEs; (b) for projects falling under points (a) (i), (ii) and (iii), the nominal amount of total financing provided to any final beneficiary per project under the support of the InvestEU Fund shall not exceed EUR 75 million. For projects falling under point (a) (iv), (v) and (vi), the nominal amount of total financing provided to any final beneficiary per project under the support of the InvestEU Fund shall not exceed EUR 30 million.

10 SMEs or, where applicable, small mid-caps may, in addition to the categories of aid provided for in paragraphs 2 to 9, also receive aid in the form of financing supported by the InvestEU Fund provided that one of the following conditions are fulfilled: (a) the nominal amount of total financing provided per final beneficiary under the support of the InvestEU Fund does not exceed EUR 15 million and is provided to: (i) unlisted SMEs that have not yet been operating in any market or have been operating for less than 7 years following their first commercial sale; (ii) unlisted SMEs entering a new product or geographical market, where the initial investment for entering into a new product or geographical market must be higher than 50 % of the average annual turnover in the preceding 5 years; (iii) SMEs and small mid-caps that are innovative enterprises as defined in Article 2, point (80); (b) the nominal amount of total financing provided per final beneficiary under the support of the InvestEU Fund does not exceed EUR 15 million and is provided to SMEs or small mid-caps whose principal activities are located in assisted areas provided that the financing is not used for relocation of activities as defined in Article 2, point (61a); (c) the nominal amount of total financing provided per final beneficiary under the support of the InvestEU Fund does not exceed EUR 2 million and is provided to SMEs or small mid-caps.

1 Financing to the final beneficiaries shall be provided by commercial financial intermediaries which shall be selected in an open, transparent and non-discriminatory way based on objective criteria.

2 The commercial financial intermediary that provides financing to the final beneficiary shall retain a minimum risk exposure of 20 % of each financing transaction.

3 The nominal amount of total financing provided to each final beneficiary through the commercial financial intermediary shall not exceed EUR 7,5 million.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.