Article 21Environmental investment aid for energy saving measures
1.Environmental investment aid enabling undertakings to achieve energy savings shall be compatible with the common market within the meaning of Article 87(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempt from the notification requirement of Article 88(3) of the Treaty, provided that it meets:
(a)the conditions laid down in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article; or
(b)the conditions laid down in paragraphs 4 and 5 thereof.
2.The aid intensity shall not exceed 60 % of the eligible costs.
However, the aid intensity may be increased by 20 percentage points for aid awarded to small enterprises and by 10 percentage points for aid awarded to medium-sized enterprises.
3.The eligible costs shall be the extra investment costs necessary to achieve energy savings beyond the level required by the Community standards.
The eligible costs shall be calculated as set out in Article 18(6) and (7).
The eligible costs shall be calculated net of any operating benefits and costs related to the extra investment for energy saving and arising during the first three years of the life of this investment in the case of SMEs, the first four years in the case of large undertakings that are not part of the EU CO2 Emission Trading System and the first five years in the case of large undertakings that are part of the EU CO2 Emission Trading System. For large undertakings this period may be reduced to the first three years of the life of this investment where the depreciation time of the investment can be demonstrated not to exceed three years.
The eligible cost calculations shall be certified by an external auditor.
4.The aid intensity shall not exceed 20 % of the eligible costs.
However, the aid intensity may be increased by 20 percentage points for aid awarded to small enterprises and by 10 percentage points for aid awarded to medium-sized enterprises.
5.The eligible costs shall be calculated as set out in Article 18(6) and (7) and without taking account of operating benefits and operating costs.