
Article 1 
This Regulation applies to aid granted to enterprises in the agriculture or fisheries sectors, with the exception of:

((a)) aid the amount of which is fixed on the basis of price or quantity of products put on the market,
((b)) aid to export-related activities, namely aid directly linked to the quantities exported, to the establishment and operation of a distribution network or to other current expenditure linked to export activity,
((c)) aid contingent upon the use of domestic over imported goods.
Article 2 
For the purpose of this Regulation:

1.. ‘enterprises in the agriculture sector’ means enterprises active in the production, processing and marketing of agricultural products,
2.. ‘agricultural product’ means the products listed in Annex I of the Treaty, except fisheries products as defined in point (5),
3.. ‘processing of an agricultural product’ means an operation performed on an agricultural product where the product resulting from the operation is also an agricultural product.
4.. ‘enterprises in the fisheries sector’ means enterprises active in the production, processing and marketing of fisheries products,
5.. ‘fisheries products’ means both products caught at sea or in inland waters and the products of aquaculture listed in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000,
6.. ‘processing and marketing of a fisheries product’ means all operations, including handling, treatment, production and distribution, performed between the time of landing or harvesting and the end-product stage.
Article 3 

1. Aid measures shall be deemed not to meet all the criteria of Article 87(1) of the Treaty and shall therefore be exempt from the notification requirement of Article 88(3) of the Treaty, if they fulfil the conditions laid down in paragraphs 2 and 3.
2. The total de minimis aid granted to any one enterprise shall not exceed EUR 3 000 over any period of three years. This ceiling shall apply irrespective of the form of the aid or the objective pursued.The cumulative amount thus granted to various enterprises in the agriculture sector shall not exceed the value per Member State set out in Annex I, over any three-year period.The cumulative amount of aid granted to various enterprises in the fisheries sector shall not exceed the value set out per Member State in Annex II, over any three-year period.
3. The ceilings in paragraph 2 shall be expressed as a cash grant. All figures used shall be gross, that is, before any deduction for direct taxation. Where aid is awarded in a form other than a grant, the aid amount shall be the gross grant equivalent of the aid.Aid payable in several instalments shall be discounted to its value at the moment of its being granted. The interest rate to be used for discounting purposes and to calculate the aid amount in a soft loan shall be the reference rate applicable at the time of grant.
Article 4 

1. Where a Member State grants de minimis aid to an enterprise, it shall inform the enterprise about the de minimis character of the aid and obtain from the enterprise concerned full information about other de minimis aid received during the previous three years.The Member State may only grant the new de minimis aid after having checked that this will not raise the total amount of de minimis aid received during the relevant three-year period to a level above either of the ceilings set out in Article 3(2).
2. Where a Member State has set up a central register of de minimis aid for agriculture and fisheries, respectively, containing complete information on all de minimis aid falling within the scope of this Regulation and granted by any authority within that Member State, the requirement in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall no longer apply once the register covers a three-year period.
3. Member States shall record and compile all the information regarding the application of this Regulation. Such records shall contain all information necessary to demonstrate that the conditions of this Regulation have been fulfilled. Records regarding an individual de minimis aid shall be maintained for 10 years from the date on which the aid was granted, and the records regarding a de minimis aid scheme for 10 years from the date on which the last individual aid was granted under such scheme.On written request the Member State concerned shall provide the Commission, within a period of 20 working days, or such longer period as may be fixed in the request, with all the information that the Commission considers necessary for assessing whether the conditions of this Regulation have been complied with, in particular the total amount of de minimis aid received by any enterprise and by the agriculture or fisheries sector of the Member State concerned.
Article 5 

1. This Regulation shall apply to aid granted before its entry into force, if it fulfils all the conditions laid down in Articles 1 and 3. Any aid which does not fulfil those conditions shall be assessed by the Commission in accordance with the relevant frameworks, guidelines, communications and notices.
2. Aid schemes falling under this Regulation shall continue to benefit from it during an adjustment period of six months following the date provided for in the second paragraph of Article 6.During the adjustment period, the schemes may continue to be applied under the conditions of this Regulation.
Article 6 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 2005.
It shall expire on 31 December 2008.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.Done at Brussels, 6 October 2004.
For the Commission
Franz FISCHLER
Member of the Commission
ANNEX 1

Cumulative amounts for agriculture per Member State as referred to in Article 3 (2):

(in EUR)
BE 22 077 000
DK 27 294 000
DE 133 470 000
EL 34 965 000
ES 106 755 000
FR 195 216 000
IE 17 637 000
IT 130 164 000
LU 789 000
NL 62 232 000
AT 17 253 000
PT 17 832 000
FI 11 928 000
SE 13 689 000
UK 72 357 000
CZ 9 696 000
EE 1 266 000
CY 1 871 100
LV 1 686 000
LT 3 543 000
HU 16 980 000
MT 474 000
PL 44 895 000
SI 3 018 000
SK 4 566 000
ANNEX II

Cumulative amounts for fisheries per Member State as referred to in Article 3(2):

(in EUR)
BE 1 368 900
DK 6 341 400
DE 7 287 000
EL 2 036 370
ES 15 272 100
FR 11 073 300
IE 1 944 000
IT 9 413 400
LU 0
NL 3 548 100
AT 114 000
PT 2 703 300
FI 460 200
SE 1 557 900
UK 12 651 900
CZ 169 200
EE 407 400
CY 123 000
LV 510 300
LT 906 000
HU 144 180
MT 21 000
PL 1 652 100
SI 21 900
SK 86 100