Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 (repealed)Show full title

Article 1 Scope

1. This Regulation shall apply to the following categories of aid:

(a) regional aid;

(b) SME investment and employment aid;

(c) aid for the creation of enterprises by female entrepreneurs;

(d) aid for environmental protection;

(e) aid for consultancy in favour of SMEs and SME participation in fairs;

(f) aid in the form of risk capital;

(g) aid for research, development and innovation;

(h) training aid;

(i) aid for disadvantaged or disabled workers.

2. It shall not apply to:

(a) 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 costs linked to the export activity;

(b) aid contingent upon the use of domestic over imported goods.

3. This Regulation shall apply to aid in all sectors of the economy with the exception of the following:

(a) aid favouring activities in the fishery and aquaculture sectors, as covered by Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000(1), except for training aid, aid in the form of risk capital, aid for research and development and innovation and aid for disadvantaged and disabled workers;

(b) aid favouring activities in the primary production of agricultural products, except for training aid, aid in the form of risk capital, aid for research and development, environmental aid, and aid for disadvantaged and disabled workers to the extent that these categories of aid are not covered by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006;

(c) aid favouring activities in the processing and marketing of agricultural products, in the following cases:

(i)

when the amount of the aid is fixed on the basis of the price or quantity of such products purchased from primary producers or put on the market by the undertakings concerned; or

(ii)

when the aid is conditional on being partly or entirely passed on to primary producers;

(d) aid favouring activities in the coal sector with the exception of training aid, research and development and innovation aid and environmental aid;

(e) regional aid favouring activities in the steel sector;

(f) regional aid favouring activities in the shipbuilding sector;

(g) regional aid favouring activities in the synthetic fibres sector.

4. This Regulation shall not apply to regional aid schemes which are targeted at specific sectors of economic activity within manufacturing or services. Schemes aimed at tourism activities are not considered targeted at specific sectors.

5. This Regulation shall not apply to ad hoc aid granted to large enterprises, except as provided for in Article 13(1).

6. This Regulation shall not apply to the following aid:

(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 illegal and incompatible with the common market;

(b) ad hoc aid in favour of an undertaking which is subject to an outstanding recovery order following a previous Commission Decision declaring an aid illegal and incompatible with the common market;

(c) aid to undertakings in difficulty.

7. For the purposes of point (c) of paragraph 6, an SME shall be considered to be an undertaking in difficulty if it fulfils the following conditions:

(a) in the case of a limited liability company, where more than half of its registered capital has disappeared and more than one quarter of that capital has been lost over the preceding 12 months; or

(b) in the case of a company where at least some members have unlimited liability for the debt of the company, where more than half of its capital as shown in the company accounts has disappeared and more than one quarter of that capital has been lost over the preceding 12 months; or

(c) whatever the type of company concerned, where it fulfils the criteria under its domestic law for being the subject of collective insolvency proceedings.

An SME which has been incorporated for less than three years shall not be considered, for the purposes of this Regulation, to be in difficulty with regard to that period unless it meets the condition set out in point (c) of the first subparagraph.

(1)

OJ L 17, 21.1.2000, p. 22.