Article 15 Provision of technical support in the agricultural sector
United Kingdom
Aid shall be compatible with the common market within the meaning of Article 87(3)(c) of the Treaty and shall be exempt from the notification requirement of Article 88(3) of the Treaty if it is granted towards the eligible costs of the technical support activities listed in paragraph 2 and fulfils the conditions set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article.
Aid may be granted to cover the following eligible costs:
concerning education and training of farmers and farm workers:
- (i)
costs of organising the training programme;
- (ii)
travel and subsistence expenses of participants;
- (iii)
cost of the provision of replacement services during the absence of the farmer or the farm worker;
concerning farm replacement services, the actual costs of the replacement of a farmer, the farmer's partner, or a farm worker, during illness and holidays;
concerning consultancy services provided by third parties, the fees for services which do not constitute a continuous or periodic activity nor relate to the enterprise's usual operating expenditure, such as routine tax consultancy services, regular legal services, or advertising;
concerning the organisation of and participation in forums to share knowledge between businesses, competitions, exhibitions and fairs:
- (i)
participation fees;
- (ii)
travel costs;
- (iii)
costs of publications;
- (iv)
the rent of exhibition premises;
- (v)
symbolic prizes awarded in the framework of competitions, up to a value of EUR 250 per prize and winner;
provided that individual companies, brands or origin are not named:
- (i)
the vulgarisation of scientific knowledge;
- (ii)
factual information on quality systems open to products from other countries, on generic products and on the nutritional benefits of generic products and suggested uses for them.
Aid may also be granted to cover the costs referred to in point (e) if the origin of products covered by Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006f1 and by Articles 54 to 58 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999f2 is indicated, provided that the references to the origin correspond exactly to those references which have been registered by the Community.
publications such as catalogues or websites presenting factual information about producers from a given region or producers of a given product, provided the information and presentation is neutral and that all producers concerned have equal opportunities to be represented in the publication.
The aid may cover 100 % of the costs listed in paragraph 2. The aid must be granted in kind by means of subsidised services and must not involve direct payments of money to producers.
The aid must be accessible to all those eligible in the area concerned, based on objectively defined conditions. Where the provision of technical support is undertaken by producer groups or other organisations, membership of such groups or organisations must not be a condition for access to the service. Any contribution of non-members towards the administrative costs of the group or organisation concerned must be limited to the costs of providing the service.