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Public aid
Increase in the de minimis aid threshold for the agriculture sector
Publié le 19 décembre 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
In a new regulation, the European Commission is increasing the de minimis aid per company in agriculture to €50 000 (from €20 000 previously).
What is de minimis aid?
Firstly, State aid is financing granted by the State for a company. It must neither distort nor threaten to distort competition by favoring certain companies or the production of certain goods. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union mentions State aid compatible with the internal market: aid to promote the economic development of regions where the standard of living is abnormally low, aid to facilitate the development of certain activities, aid to promote culture and heritage conservation...
State aid must be notified to the Commission with the exception of de minimis aid.
The so-called aids de minimis are State aid small amount granted to companies. They are now regulated by Regulation 2023/2831 of 13 December 2023.
Evolution of the threshold for the agriculture sector
The de minimis aid ceiling corresponds to the threshold of small amounts of aid that a company can receive over 3 rolling tax years (current and 2 previous tax years). In other words, over a period of 3 years.
For the agriculture sector, the threshold for 3 rolling fiscal years is now raised to €50,000 (instead of € 20 000) by Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/3118 of 10 December 2024. The purpose of this amendment is to respond effectively to the crises encountered by this sector.
The de minimis thresholds are as follows:
Sector | Threshold to be respected over 3 rolling fiscal years |
|---|---|
All sectors (except exceptions) | €300,000 |
Carriage of goods by road for hire or reward | €300,000 |
Agriculture | €50,000 |
Fisheries and aquaculture | €30,000 |
FYI
Regulation No 2024/3118 fixing those thresholds shall apply until December 31, 2032.
Please note
In order to reduce the administrative burden on companies and to avoid exceeding the thresholds, Member States will have to set up a national register or use the European Central Register set up by the Commission as of January 2026. This register will contain information on de minimis aid granted.