
Article 1 
This Regulation applies to aid granted to undertakings in the fisheries sector, 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, aid to the establishment and operation of a distribution network or to other current expenditure linked to the export activity;
((c)) aid contingent upon the use of domestic over imported goods;
((d)) aid serving to increase fishing capacity, expressed in terms of tonnage or power, as defined in Article 3(n) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002, unless it concerns aid for modernisation over the main deck as referred to in Article 11(5) of that Regulation;
((e)) aid for the purchase or construction of fishing vessels;
((f)) aid granted to undertakings in difficulty.
Article 2 
For the purposes of this Regulation:

((a)) ‘undertakings in the fisheries sector’ means undertakings active in the production, processing and marketing of fisheries products;
((b)) ‘fisheries products’ means the products defined in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000;
((c)) ‘processing and marketing’ 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 be exempt from the notification requirement of Article 88(3) of the Treaty, if they fulfil the conditions laid down in this Article and in Articles 4 and 5 of this Regulation.
2. The total de minimis aid granted to any one undertaking shall not exceed EUR 30 000 over any period of three fiscal years. This ceiling shall apply irrespective of the form of the aid or the objective pursued. The period shall be determined by reference to the fiscal years used in the Member State concerned.
3. When an overall aid mount exceeds this ceiling, that aid amount cannot benefit from this Regulation, even for a fraction not exceeding that ceiling. In such a case, the benefit of this Regulation cannot be claimed for this aid measure either at the time the aid is granted or at any subsequent time.
4. The cumulative amount thus granted to various undertakings in the fisheries sector shall not exceed the value set out per Member State in the Annex over any period of three fiscal years.
5. The ceilings in paragraphs 2 and 4 shall be expressed as a cash grant. All figures used shall be gross, that is, before any deduction of tax or other charge. Where aid is awarded in a form other than a grant, the aid amount shall be the gross grant equivalent of the aid.
6. 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 gross equivalent shall be the reference rate applicable at the time of the grant.
7. This Regulation shall apply only to aid in respect of which it is possible to calculate precisely the gross grant equivalent of the aid ex ante without the need to undertake a risk assessment (transparent aid). In particular:
(a) aid comprised in loans shall be treated as transparent de minimis aid when the gross grant equivalent has been calculated on the basis of market interest rates prevailing at the time of the grant;
(b) aid comprised in capital injections shall not be considered as transparent de minimis aid, unless the total amount of the public injection does not exceed the de minimis ceiling;
(c) aid comprised in risk capital measures shall not be considered as transparent de minimis aid, unless the risk capital scheme concerned provides capital only up to the de minimis ceiling to each target undertaking;
(d) aid in the form of repayable advances shall not be considered as transparent aid as far as the total amount of the repayable advances exceeds the applicable threshold under this Regulation;
(e) individual aid provided under a guarantee scheme to undertakings which are not undertakings in difficulty shall be treated as de minimis aid when the guaranteed part of the underlying loan provided under such scheme does not exceed EUR 225 000 per undertaking. If the guaranteed part of the underlying loan only accounts for a given proportion of this ceiling, the gross grant equivalent of that guarantee shall be deemed to correspond to the same proportion of the applicable ceiling laid down in paragraph 2. The guarantee shall not exceed 80 % of the underlying loan.
8. De minimis aid shall not be cumulated with State aid in respect of the same eligible costs if such cumulation would result in an aid intensity exceeding that fixed in the specific circumstances of each case by a block exemption regulation or decision adopted by the Commission.
Article 4 

1. Where a Member State grants de minimis aid to an undertaking, it shall inform the undertaking in writing about the amount of the aid expressed in gross equivalent and about the de minimis character, making express reference to this Regulation and citing its title and publication reference in the Official Journal of the European Union. Where the de minimis aid is granted to different undertakings on the basis of a scheme and different amounts of individual aid are granted to those undertakings under that scheme, the Member State concerned may choose to fulfil that obligation by informing the undertakings of a fixed sum corresponding to the maximum aid amount to be granted under the scheme. In such case, the fixed sum shall be used for determining whether either of the ceilings laid down in paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 3 are met. Prior to granting the aid, the Member State shall obtain a declaration from the undertaking concerned, in written or electronic form, about any other de minimis aid received during the previous two fiscal years and the current fiscal year.
2. The Member State shall only grant the new de minimis aid after having checked that this will not raise the total amount of de minimis aid received by the undertaking during the period covering the fiscal year concerned, as well as the previous two fiscal years in that Member State, to a level above either of the ceilings set out in paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 3.
3. Where a Member State has set up a central register of de minimis aid for fisheries containing complete information on all de minimis aid granted by any authority within that Member State, paragraph 1 shall cease to apply to that Member State from the moment the register covers a period of three fiscal years.
4. 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 complied with. Records regarding an individual de minimis aid shall be maintained for 10 fiscal years from the date on which the aid was granted. Records regarding a de minimis aid scheme shall be maintained for 10 years from the date on which the last individual aid was granted under such scheme. On a 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, and in particular the total amount of de minimis aid received by any undertaking and by the 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 to 3 and, if appropriate, in Article 4. 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. Any de minimis aid granted between 1 January 2005 and six months after entry into force of this Regulation, which fulfils the conditions of Regulation (EC) No 1860/2004 as applicable to the fisheries sector until the date of entry into force of this Regulation, 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.
3. At the end of the period of validity of this Regulation, any de minimis aid which fulfils the conditions of this Regulation may be validly implemented for a period of six months.
Article 6 
Regulation (EC) No 1860/2004 shall be amended as follows:

((a)) in the title, the words ‘and fisheries sectors’ are replaced by ‘sector’;
((b)) in Article 1, the words ‘the agriculture or fisheries sectors’ are replaced by ‘the agriculture sector’;
((c)) in Article 2:

((i)) in point (2), the words ‘except fisheries products as defined in point (5)’ are replaced by ‘except fisheries products as defined in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000’,
((ii)) points 4, 5 and 6 are deleted;
((d)) in Article 3(2), the third subparagraph is deleted;
((e)) in Article 4(2), the words ‘and fisheries, respectively’ are deleted;
((f)) in the second subparagraph of Article 4(3), the words ‘or fisheries’ are deleted;
((g)) Annex II is deleted.
Article 7 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall expire on 31 December 2013.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.Done at Brussels, 24 July 2007.
For the Commission
Joe BORG
Member of the Commission
ANNEX
(EUR)
BE 11 800 000
BG 433 000
CZ 1 008 000
DK 57 650 000
DE 48 950 000
EE 3 718 000
IE 8 508 000
EL 18 015 000
ES 127 880 000
FR 138 550 000
IT 94 325 000
CY 1 562 000
LV 3 923 000
LT 5 233 000
LU 0
HU 740 000
MT 255 000
NL 35 875 000
AT 620 000
PL 21 125 000
PT 15 688 000
RO 524 000
SL 338 000
SK 1 133 000
FI 7 075 000
SE 11 153 000
UK 102 725 000