Article 2 Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

1. (a)

   ‘aid’ means any measure fulfilling all the criteria laid down in Article 87(1) of the Treaty;

2. (b)

   ‘aid scheme’ means any act on the basis of which, without further implementing measures being required, individual aid awards may be made to undertakings defined within the act in a general and abstract manner and any act on the basis of which aid which is not linked to a specific project may be awarded to one or several undertakings for an indefinite period of time and/or for an indefinite amount;

3. (c)

   ‘individual aid’ means ad-hoc aid and notifiable awards of aid on the basis of an aid scheme;

4. (d)

   ‘ad-hoc aid’ means individual aid not awarded on the basis of an aid scheme;

5. (e)

   ‘aid intensity’ means the aid amount expressed as a percentage of the eligible costs;

6. (f)

   ‘fisheries product’ means both products caught at sea or in inland waters and the products of aquaculture listed in Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000;

7. (g)

   ‘small and medium-sized enterprises’ (‘SMEs’) means small and medium-sized enterprises as defined in Article 2 (7) of Commission Regulation (EC) No …/2008 of 2 July 2008 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market^f1;

8. (h)

   ‘transparent aid’ means aid in respect of which it is possible to calculate precisely the gross grant equivalent ex ante without need to undertake a risk assessment;

9. (i)

   ‘undertaking in difficulty’ means an undertaking fulfilling the following conditions:

   • in the case of a limited liability company, where more than half of its registered capital has disappeared and more than one-quarter of that capital has been lost over the preceding 12 months, or

   • in the case of a company where at least some members have unlimited liability for the debt of the company, where more than half of its capital as shown in the company accounts has disappeared and more than one quarter of that capital has been lost over the preceding 12 months, or

   • whatever the type of company concerned, where it fulfils the criteria under its domestic law for being the subject of collective insolvency proceedings.