The European Commission has adopted today revised State aid rules for the agricultural, forestry and fishery and aquaculture sectors. The revised rules align State aid with the EU strategic priorities, in particular the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), as well as to the European Green Deal.
The Commission has also decided to prolong for one year the validity of its so-called Fishery ‘de minimis’ Regulation.
The new State aid rules part of the package adopted today are: (i) the revised Agricultural Block Exemption Regulation (‘ABER’) and Fishery Block Exemption Regulation (‘FIBER’); and (ii) the new Guidelines for State aid to the agricultural and forestry sectors and in rural areas (‘Agricultural Guidelines’), and the new Guidelines for State aid in the fishery and aquaculture sector (‘Fisheries Guidelines’), which reflect recent Commission’s case experience as well as the current EU strategic priorities. The revised ABER and FIBER, as well as the Agricultural Guidelines, will apply as of 1 January 2023. The Fisheries Guidelines, which have been endorsed today by the Commission, will apply once all the language versions will be available.
Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “Following an extensive consultation process with interested parties we can today adopt a package on our rules on State aid for the agricultural, forestry and fishery and aquaculture sectors fit for the green transition. It will make it easier and faster for Member States to provide funding to these sectors that are key to our EU economy, without undue distortions of competition in the Single Market”.
