Article 4 Creation of employment
United Kingdom
Aid schemes for the creation of employment and any aid that could be awarded under such scheme shall fulfil the conditions of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4.
Where the employment is created in areas or in sectors which do not qualify for regional aid pursuant to Article 87(3)(a) and (c) at the moment the aid is granted, the gross aid intensity shall not exceed:
15 % in the case of small enterprises;
7,5 % in the case of medium-sized enterprises.
Where the employment is created in areas and in sectors which qualify for regional aid pursuant to Article 87(3)(a) and (c) at the moment at which the aid is awarded, the net aid intensity shall not exceed the corresponding ceiling of regional investment aid determined in the map applying at the time the aid is granted, as approved by the Commission for each Member State: for this purpose, regard shall be had, inter alia, to the multisectoral framework for regional aid for large investment projectsf1.
In the case of small and medium-sized enterprises, and unless the map provides otherwise for such enterprises, this ceiling shall be increased by:
10 percentage points gross in areas covered by Article 87(3)(c), provided that the total net aid intensity does not exceed 30 %; or
15 percentage points gross in areas covered by Article 87(3)(a), provided that the total net aid intensity does not exceed 75 %.
The higher regional aid ceilings shall only apply if the beneficiary's contribution to financing is at least 25 % and if the employment is maintained within the qualifying region.
When employment is created in the production, processing and marketing of products listed in Annex I to the Treaty, in areas which qualify as less favoured areas under Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999f2, these higher aid ceilings or, if applicable, the higher aid ceilings of that Regulation, shall apply.
The ceilings fixed in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall apply to the intensity of the aid calculated as a percentage of the wage costs over a period of two years relating to the employment created under the following conditions:
the employment created must represent a net increase in the number of employees, both in the establishment and in the enterprise concerned, compared with the average over the past 12 months;
the employment created shall be maintained for a minimum period of three years, or two years in the case of SMEs; and
the new workers employed as a result of the creation of employment must have never had a job or have lost or be losing their previous job.
Where aid is granted for the creation of employment under a scheme exempted under this Article, additional aid may be granted in case of recruitment of a disadvantaged or disabled worker in accordance with the terms of Articles 5 or 6.