Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty Text with EEA relevance

• (a) investment costs in tangible and intangible assets; or

• (b) the estimated wage costs of employment created as a result of an initial investment, calculated over 2 years; or

• (c) a combination of part of the costs referred to in points (a) and (b) but not exceeding the amount of point (a) or (b), whichever is higher.

Costs related to the lease of tangible assets may be taken into account under the following conditions:

• (a) for land and buildings, the lease must continue for at least 5 years after the expected date of completion of the investment for large enterprises, and 3 years for SMEs;

• (b) for plant or machinery, the lease must take the form of financial leasing and must contain an obligation for the aid beneficiary to purchase the asset at the expiry of the term of the lease.

In the case of an initial investment as referred to in Article 2, point 49(b) or point 51(b), in principle only the costs of buying the assets from third parties unrelated to the buyer shall be taken into consideration. However, if a member of the family of the original owner, or one or more employees, takes over a small enterprise, the condition that the assets shall be bought from third parties unrelated to the buyer does not apply. The transaction shall take place under market conditions. If the acquisition of the assets of an establishment is accompanied by an additional investment eligible for regional aid, the eligible costs of that additional investment should be added to the cost of acquisition of the assets of the establishment. If aid has already been granted for the acquisition of assets prior to their purchase, the costs of those assets shall be deducted from the eligible costs related to the acquisition of an establishment.

• (a) they must be used exclusively in the establishment receiving the aid;

• (b) they must be amortisable;

• (c) they must be purchased under market conditions from third parties unrelated to the buyer; and

• (d) they must be included in the assets of the undertaking that receives the aid and must remain associated with the project for which the aid is awarded for at least 5 years (3 years for SMEs).

For large enterprises, costs of intangible assets shall be eligible only up to 50 % of the total eligible investment costs for the initial investment. For SMEs, 100 % of the costs of intangible assets shall be eligible.

• (a) the investment project shall lead to a net increase in the number of employees in the establishment concerned compared to the average over the previous 12 months, after deducting from the number of jobs created any job losses that occurred during that period, expressed in annual labour units;

• (b) each post shall be filled within 3 years of completion of the investment;

• (c) each job created through the investment shall be maintained in the area concerned for a period of at least five years from the date the post was first filled, or three years in the case of SMEs, except if the job is lost between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2021.

Article 15

Regional operating aid

• (a) the aid is objectively quantifiable in advance on the basis of a fixed sum or per tonne/kilometre ratio or any other relevant unit;

• (b) the additional transport costs are calculated on the basis of the journey of the goods inside the national border of the Member State concerned using the means of transport which results in the lowest costs for the beneficiary. The Member State may impose environmental standards to be fulfilled by the mode of transport chosen, and if such standards are imposed on the beneficiary it may base the calculation of the additional transport costs on the lowest cost for fulfilling those environmental standards.

The aid intensity shall not exceed 100 % of the additional transport costs as set out in this paragraph.

• (a) the beneficiaries have their economic activity in the area concerned;

• (b) the annual aid amount per beneficiary under all operating aid schemes does not exceed 20 % of the annual labour costs incurred by the beneficiary in the area concerned.

• (a) 35 % of the gross value added annually created by the beneficiary in the outermost region concerned;

• (b) 40 % of the annual labour costs incurred by the beneficiary in the outermost region concerned;

• (c) 30 % of the annual turnover of the beneficiary realised in the outermost region concerned.

Subsection B Urban development aid

Article 16

Regional urban development aid

• (a) they are implemented via urban development funds in assisted areas;

• (b) they are co-financed by the European Structural and Investment Funds;

• (c) they support the implementation of an ‘integrated sustainable urban development strategy’;

• (a) urban development fund managers shall be selected through an open, transparent and non-discriminatory call in accordance with the applicable Union and national laws. In particular, there shall be no discrimination between urban development fund managers on the basis of their place of establishment or incorporation in any Member State. Urban development fund managers may be required to fulfil predefined criteria objectively justified by the nature of the investments;

• (b) the independent private investors shall be selected through an open, transparent and non-discriminatory call in accordance with applicable Union and national laws aimed at establishing the appropriate risk-reward sharing arrangements whereby, for investments other than guarantees, asymmetric profit-sharing shall be given preference over downside protection. If the private investors are not selected by such a call, the fair rate of return to the private investors shall be established by an independent expert selected via an open, transparent and non-discriminatory call;

• (c) in the case of asymmetric loss-sharing between public and private investors, the first loss assumed by the public investor shall be capped at 25 % of the total investment;

• (d) in the case of guarantees to private investors in urban development projects, the guarantee rate shall be limited to 80 % and total losses assumed by a Member State shall be capped at 25 % of the underlying guaranteed portfolio;

• (e) the investors shall be allowed to be represented in the governance bodies of the urban development fund, such as the supervisory board or the advisory committee;

• (f) the urban development fund shall be established according to the applicable laws. The Member State shall provide for a due diligence process in order to ensure a commercially sound investment strategy for the purpose of implementing the urban development aid measure.

• (a) the managers of urban development funds shall be obliged by law or contract to act with the diligence of a professional manager in good faith and avoiding conflicts of interest; best practices and regulatory supervision shall apply;

• (b) the remuneration of the managers of urban development funds shall conform to market practices. This requirement is considered to be met where a manager is selected through an open, transparent and non-discriminatory call, based on objective criteria linked to experience, expertise and operational and financial capacity;

• (c) the managers of urban development funds shall receive a remuneration linked to performance, or shall share part of the investment risks by co-investing own resources so as to ensure that their interests are permanently aligned with the interests of the public investors;

• (d) the managers of urban development funds shall set out an investment strategy, criteria and the proposed timing of investments in urban development projects, establishing the ex ante financial viability and their expected impact on urban development;

• (e) a clear and realistic exit strategy shall exist for each equity and quasi-equity investment.

• (a) in the case of loans, the nominal amount of the loan is taken into account in calculating the maximum investment amount for the purposes of paragraph 3 of this Article;

• (b) in the case of guarantees, the nominal amount of the underlying loan is taken into account in calculating the maximum investment amount for the purposes of paragraph 3 of this Article.

SECTION 2 Aid to SMEs

Article 17

Investment aid to SMEs

• (a) the costs of investment in tangible and intangible assets, including one-off non-amortizable costs linked directly to the investment and its initial installation;

• (b) the estimated wage costs of employment directly created by the investment project, calculated over 2 years;

• (c) a combination of part of the costs referred to in points (a) and (b) but not exceeding the amount of point (a) or (b), whichever is higher.

• (a) an investment in tangible and intangible assets related to the setting-up of a new establishment; the extension of an existing establishment; the diversification of the output of an establishment into products or services not previously produced in or provided from the establishment; or a fundamental change in the overall production process of the product(s) or overall provision of the service(s) concerned by the investment in the establishment; or

• (b) an acquisition of assets belonging to an establishment that has closed or would have closed had it not been purchased. Sole acquisition of the shares of an undertaking does not qualify as investment. The transaction shall take place under market conditions. In principle, only the costs of buying the assets from third parties unrelated to the buyer shall be taken into consideration. However, if a member of the family of the original owner, or one or more employees, takes over a small enterprise, the condition that the assets shall be bought from third parties unrelated to the buyer does not apply.

A replacement investment thus does not constitute an investment in the meaning of this paragraph.

3a. Costs related to the lease of tangible assets may be taken into account under the following conditions:

• (a) for land and buildings, the lease must continue for at least 3 years after the expected date of completion of the investment;

• (b) for plant or machinery, the lease must take the form of financial leasing and must contain an obligation for the aid beneficiary to purchase the asset at the expiry of the term of the lease.

• (a) they shall be used exclusively in the establishment receiving the aid;

• (b) they shall be amortisable;

• (c) they shall be purchased under market conditions from third parties unrelated to the buyer;

• (d) they shall be included in the assets of the undertaking that receives the aid for at least 3 years.

• (a) it shall be created within three years of completion of the investment;

• (b) there shall be a net increase in the number of employees in the establishment concerned, compared with the average over the previous 12 months;

• (c) it shall be maintained during a minimum period of three years from the date the post was first filled.

• (a) 20 % of the eligible costs in the case of small enterprises;

• (b) 10 % of the eligible costs in the case of medium-sized enterprises.

Article 18

Aid for consultancy in favour of SMEs

Article 19

Aid to SMEs for participation in fairs

Article 19a

Aid for costs incurred by SMEs participating in community-led local development (‘CLLD’) projects

• (a) the costs of preparatory support, capacity building, training and networking with a view of preparing and implementing a CLLD strategy;

• (b) implementation of approved operations;

• (c) preparation and implementation of the cooperation activities;

• (d) running costs linked to the management of the implementation of the CLLD strategy;

• (e) animation of the CLLD strategy in order to facilitate exchange between stakeholders to provide information and to promote the strategy and projects, and to support potential beneficiaries with a view of developing operations and preparing applications.

Article 19b

Limited amounts of aid to SMEs benefitting from community-led local development (‘CLLD’) projects

Article 19c

Aid to microenterprises in the form of public interventions concerning the supply of electricity, gas or heat

• (a) public interventions in price setting reducing the prices applied by suppliers to microenterprises per unit of electricity, gas or heat;

• (b) payments made to microenterprises, be it directly or via suppliers, per unit of electricity, gas or heat consumption compensating for part of the costs of that consumption.

• (a) discriminate neither between suppliers nor between microenterprises;

• (b) provide that all suppliers are eligible to provide offers for the supply of electricity, gas or heat to microenterprises on the same basis;

• (c) provide for a mechanism that, if granted via a supplier, ensures that the aid is passed on to the largest extent possible the final beneficiary; and

• (d) result in a price that is above cost, at a level where effective price competition can occur.

Article 19d

Aid to SMEs in the form of temporary public interventions concerning the supply of electricity, gas or heat produced from natural gas or electricity to mitigate the impact of price increases following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

• (a) public interventions in price setting reducing the prices applied by suppliers per unit of electricity, gas or heat;

• (b) payments granted to SMEs, be it directly or via suppliers, per unit of electricity, gas or heat consumption compensating for part of the costs of that consumption.

• (a) be limited to maximum 70 % of the beneficiary's consumption of electricity, gas or heat produced from natural gas or electricity over the period covered by the aid measure;

• (b) discriminate neither between suppliers nor between SMEs;

• (c) provide for compensation of suppliers, if the public intervention requires them to supply below cost;

• (d) provide that all suppliers are eligible to provide offers for the supply of electricity, gas or heat on the same basis;

• (e) provide for a mechanism that, if granted via a supplier, ensures that the aid is passed on to the largest extent possible to the final beneficiary; and

• (f) result in an average unit price of supplies at least equal to the average price per unit of electricity, gas, or heat respectively to final customers in the Member State concerned over the period from 1 January to 31 December 2021.

• (a) the public intervention in price setting meets the requirements set out in paragraph 2; and

• (b) the compensation payment shall not exceed the difference between the price that the supplier could have expected to achieve when applying market-based supply prices without the intervention and the price set below cost by the public intervention.

SECTION 2a Aid for European Territorial Cooperation

Article 20

Aid for costs incurred by undertakings participating in European Territorial Cooperation project

• (a) staff costs;

• (b) office and administrative costs;

• (c) travel and accommodation costs;

• (d) external expertise and services costs;

• (e) equipment costs;

• (f) costs for infrastructure and works.

Article 20a

Limited amounts of aid to undertakings for participation in European Territorial Cooperation projects

SECTION 3 Aid for access to finance for SMEs

Article 21

Risk finance aid

• (a) they have not been operating in any market;

• (b) they have been operating in any market for any of the following:
• (i) less than 10 years following their registration; or
• (ii) less than 7 years after their first commercial sale. Where one of the eligibility periods referred to in points (i) and (ii) has been applied to a given undertaking, only that period can be applied also to any subsequent risk finance aid to the same undertaking. For undertakings that have acquired another undertaking or were formed through a merger, the eligibility period applied shall also encompass the operations of the acquired undertaking or the merged undertakings, respectively, except for such acquired or merged undertakings whose turnover accounts for less than 10 % of the turnover of the acquiring undertaking in the financial year preceding the acquisition or, in case of undertakings formed through a merger, less than 10 % of the combined turnover that the merging undertakings had in the financial year preceding the merger. Concerning the eligibility period referred to in point (i), if applied, for undertakings that are not subject to registration, the eligibility period shall start from either the moment when the undertaking starts its economic activity or the moment when it becomes liable to tax with regard to its economic activity, whichever is earlier;

• (c) they require an initial investment which, based on a business plan prepared in view of a new economic activity, is higher than 50 % of their average annual turnover in the preceding 5 years. By way of derogation from the first sentence, that threshold shall be limited to 30 % with regard to the following investments, which shall be considered initial investments into a new economic activity:
• (i) investments significantly improving the environmental performance of the activity in accordance with Article 36(2);
• (ii) other environmentally sustainable investments as defined in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) 2020/852;
• (iii) investments aiming at increasing capacity for the extraction, separation, refining, processing or recycling of a critical raw material listed in Annex IV.

• (a) the total amount of risk finance referred to in paragraph 8 is not exceeded;

• (b) the possibility of follow-on investments was provided for in the original business plan;

• (c) the undertaking receiving the follow-on investments has not become a ‘linked enterprise’, within the meaning of Article 3(3) of Annex I, with another undertaking other than the financial intermediary or the independent private investor providing risk finance under the measure, unless the new entity is an SME.

• (a) in the case of loans and quasi-equity investments structured as debt, the nominal outstanding amount of the instrument;

• (b) in the case of guarantees, the nominal outstanding amount of the underlying loan.

• (a) equity or quasi-equity, or financial endowment to provide risk finance investment directly or indirectly to eligible undertakings;

• (b) loans to provide risk finance investment directly or indirectly to eligible undertakings;

• (c) guarantees to cover losses from risk finance investment directly or indirectly to eligible undertakings.

• (a) for risk finance aid in forms other than guarantees, prioritised returns from profits (asymmetric profit sharing or upside incentives) shall be given preference over protection against potential losses (downside protection);

• (b) in the case of asymmetric loss-sharing between public and private investors, the first loss borne by the public investor shall be capped at 25 % of the risk finance investment;

• (c) for risk finance aid in the form of guarantees, the guarantee rate shall be limited to 80 % and total losses assumed by a Member State shall be capped at a maximum of 25 % of the underlying guaranteed portfolio. Only guarantees covering expected losses of the underlying guaranteed portfolio may be provided for free. If a guarantee also comprises coverage of unexpected losses, the financial intermediary shall pay, for the part of the guarantee covering unexpected losses, a market-conform guarantee premium.

• (a) 10 % of the risk finance investment provided to the eligible undertakings referred to in paragraph 3, point (a);

• (b) 40 % of the risk finance investment provided to the eligible undertakings referred to in paragraph 3 point (b);

• (c) 60 % of the risk finance investment provided to the eligible undertakings referred to in paragraph 3, point (c), and for follow-on risk finance investment in eligible undertakings after the eligibility period referred to in paragraph 3, point (b).

Finance provided by independent private investors benefitting from risk finance aid in the form of tax incentives in accordance with Article 21a shall not be taken into account for the purposes of reaching the aggregate private participation rates set out in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.

The private participation rates mentioned in the first subparagraph, points (b) and (c), shall be reduced to 20 % under point (b) and 30 % under point (c) for investments that are either: made in assisted areas designated in an approved regional aid map in force at the time of provision of the risk finance investment in application of Article 107(3), point (a), of the Treaty; or that receive support on the basis of the Member State’s recovery and resilience plan as approved by the Council; or receive support from the European Defence Fund in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/697 or under the Union Space Programme in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/696 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0059]); or that receive support from Union funds implemented under shared management covered by Regulation (EU) 1303/2013, Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 or Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0060]).

• (a) it shall ensure that eligible financial intermediaries and fund managers are established in accordance with the applicable laws;

• (b) it shall not discriminate between financial intermediaries and fund managers on the basis of their place of establishment or incorporation in any Member State;

• (c) it shall aim at establishing adequate risk-reward sharing arrangements as referred to in paragraph 10, and profit-driven decisions as referred to in paragraph 15.

• (a) the Member State, or the entity entrusted with the implementation of the measure, shall provide for a due diligence process in order to ensure a commercially sound investment strategy for the purpose of implementing the risk finance measure, including an appropriate risk diversification policy aimed at achieving economic viability and efficient scale in terms of size and territorial scope of the relevant portfolio of investments;

• (b) risk finance investments provided to the eligible undertakings shall be based on a viable business plan, containing details of product, sales and profitability development, establishing ex ante financial viability;

• (c) a clear and realistic exit strategy shall exist for each equity and quasi-equity investment.

• (a) they shall be obliged by law or contract to act in accordance with best practices and with the diligence of a professional manager acting in good faith and avoiding conflicts of interest; regulatory supervision shall apply, where relevant;

• (b) their remuneration shall conform to market practices. This requirement is presumed to be met as long as they are selected through an open, transparent and non-discriminatory selection procedure in accordance with in paragraph 14;

• (c) they shall share part of the investment risks by either co-investing their own resources or receiving a remuneration linked to performance, so as to ensure that their interests are permanently aligned with the interests of the Member State or its entrusted entity;

• (d) they shall set out an investment strategy, criteria and the proposed timing of investments;

• (e) investors shall be allowed to be represented in the governance bodies of the investment fund, such as the supervisory board or the advisory committee, if any.

• (a) at the level of the SMEs, the aid fulfils the conditions laid down in Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 ([^E0061]), Commission Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 ([^E0062]) or Regulation (EU) No 717/2014, whichever is applicable;

• (b) all the conditions laid down in this Article are fulfilled, with the exception of the conditions set out in paragraphs 3, 4, 8, 12 and/or 13;

• (c) for risk finance measures providing risk finance investments to eligible undertakings in the form of equity, quasi-equity or loans, the measure shall leverage additional financing from independent private investors at the level of the financial intermediaries or the SMEs, so as to achieve an aggregate private participation rate reaching at least 60 % of the risk finance provided to the SMEs.

The private participation rate mentioned in the first subparagraph, point (c), shall be reduced to 30 % for investments that are either: made in assisted areas designated in an approved regional aid map in force at the time of provision of the risk finance investment in application of Article 107(3), point (a), of the Treaty; or that receive support on the basis of the Member State’s recovery and resilience plan as approved by the Council; or receive support from the European Defence Fund in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/697or under the Union Space Programme in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/696 or from Union Funds implemented under shared management covered by Regulation (EU) 1303/2013, Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 or Regulation (EU) 2021/2115.

Article 21a

Risk finance aid to SMEs in the form of tax incentives for private investors who are natural persons

• (a) 50 % of the eligible investment carried out by the independent private investor into the eligible undertakings referred to in Article 21(3), point (a);

• (b) 35 % of the eligible investment carried out by the independent private investor into the eligible undertakings referred to in Article 21(3), point (b);

• (c) 20 % of the eligible investment carried out by the independent private investor into the eligible undertakings referred to in Article 21(3), point (c), or of a follow-on eligible investment into an eligible undertaking after the eligibility period referred to in Article 21(3), point (b).

The tax relief thresholds for the direct investments mentioned in the first subparagraph, may be increased up to 65 % under point (a), up to 50 % under point (b) and up to 35 % under point (c) for investments that are either: made in assisted areas designated in an approved regional aid map in force at the time of provision of the risk finance investment in application of Article 107(3), point (a), of the Treaty; or that receive support on the basis of the Member State’s recovery and resilience plan as approved by the Council; or receive support from the European Defence Fund in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/697 or under the Union Space Programme in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/696; or that receive support from Union funds implemented under shared management covered by Regulation (EU) 1303/2013, Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 or Regulation (EU) 2021/2115.

Article 22

Aid for start-ups

• (a) it has not taken over the activity of another undertaking, unless the turnover of the overtaken activity accounts for less than 10 % of the turnover of the eligible undertaking in the financial year preceding the take-over;

• (b) it has not yet distributed profits;

• (c) it has not acquired another undertaking or has not been formed through a merger, unless the turnover of the acquired undertaking accounts for less than 10 % of the turnover of the eligible undertaking in the financial year preceding the acquisition or the turnover of the undertaking formed through a merger is less than 10 % higher than the combined turnover that the merging undertakings had in the financial year preceding the merger.

For eligible undertakings that are not subject to registration, the 5 year eligibility period shall start from either the moment when the undertaking starts its economic activity or the moment it becomes liable to tax with regard to its economic activity, whichever is earlier.

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, point (c), undertakings formed through a merger between undertakings eligible for aid under this Article shall also be considered eligible undertakings up to 5 years from the date of registration of the oldest of the merging undertakings.

• (a) loans with interest rates which are not conform with market conditions, with a duration of 10 years and up to a maximum nominal amount of EUR 1.1 million, or EUR 1.65 million for undertakings established in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3), point (c), of the Treaty, or EUR 2.2 million for undertakings established in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3), point (a), of the Treaty. For loans with a duration comprised between 5 years and 10 years the maximum amounts may be adjusted by multiplying the amounts above by the ratio between 10 years and the actual duration of the loan. For loans with a duration of less than 5 years, the maximum amount shall be the same as for loans with a duration of 5 years;

• (b) guarantees with premiums which are not conform with market conditions, with a duration of 10 years and up to maximum EUR 1.65 million of amount guaranteed, or EUR 2.48 million for undertakings established in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3), point (c), of the Treaty, or EUR 3.3 million for undertakings established in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3), point (a), of the Treaty. For guarantees with a duration comprised between 5 years and 10 years the maximum amount guaranteed may be adjusted by multiplying the amounts above by the ratio between 10 years and the actual duration of the guarantee. For guarantees with a duration of less than 5 years, the maximum amount guaranteed shall be the same as for guarantees with a duration of 5 years. The guarantee shall not exceed 80 % of the underlying loan;

• (c) grants, including equity or quasi equity investment, interests rate and guarantee premium reductions up to EUR 0.5 million gross grant equivalent or EUR 0.75 million for undertakings established in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3), point (c), of the Treaty, or EUR 1 million for undertakings established in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3), point (a), of the Treaty;

• (d) tax incentives to eligible undertakings up to EUR 0.5 million gross grant equivalent or EUR 0.75 million for undertakings established in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3), point (c), of the Treaty, or EUR 1 million for undertakings established in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3), point (a), of the Treaty.

• (a) the purpose of the transfer of IP or the grant of related access rights is to bring a new product or service to the market; and

• (b) the value of the IP is set at its market price, which is the case if it has been set according to one of the following methods:
• (i) the amount has been established by means of an open, transparent and non-discriminatory competitive procedure;
• (ii) an independent expert valuation confirms that the amount is at least equal to the market price;
• (iii) in cases where the eligible undertaking has a right of first refusal as regards the IP generated in collaboration with the research and knowledge-dissemination organisation, where the research and knowledge-dissemination organisation exercises a reciprocal right to solicit more economically advantageous offers from third parties so that the collaborating eligible undertaking has to match its offer accordingly. The value of any contribution, both financial and non-financial, of the eligible undertaking to the costs of the research and knowledge-dissemination organisation’s activities that resulted in the IP concerned may be deducted from the value of the IP referred to in this point.

• (c) the aid amount of the IP transfer or the grant of the related access rights under this paragraph shall not exceed EUR 1 million. The aid amount corresponds to the value of the IP referred to in point (b), less the above-mentioned deduction referred to in the last sentence of point (b) and less any remuneration due from the beneficiary for that IP. The value of the IP referred to in point (b) can exceed EUR 1 million, in which case such additional amount may be covered by the eligible undertaking with own funds or other means.

Article 23

Aid to alternative trading platforms specialised in SMEs

The aid measure may take the form of tax incentives to independent private investors that are natural persons in respect of their risk finance investments made through an alternative trading platform into undertakings eligible under the conditions laid down in Article 21a(2) and (5).

Article 24

Aid for scouting costs

• (a) the costs for initial screening and formal due diligence undertaken by managers of financial intermediaries or investors to identify eligible undertakings pursuant to Articles 21, 21a and 22;

• (b) the costs for investment research, as defined in Article 36(1) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565 ([^E0063]), in an individual eligible undertaking pursuant to Articles 21, 21a and 22, provided this research is publicly disseminated, and, if it has been disseminated to clients of the investment research provider before public dissemination, is disseminated publicly in the same form and no later than 3 months after the first dissemination to clients.

SECTION 4 Aid for research and development and innovation

Article 25

Aid for research and development projects

• (a) fundamental research;

• (b) industrial research;

• (c) experimental development;

• (d) feasibility studies.

• (a) personnel costs: researchers, technicians and other supporting staff to the extent employed on the project;

• (b) costs of instruments and equipment to the extent and for the period used for the project. Where such instruments and equipment are not used for their full life for the project, only the depreciation costs corresponding to the life of the project, as calculated on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles are considered as eligible.

• (c) Costs for of buildings and land, to the extent and for the duration period used for the project. With regard to buildings, only the depreciation costs corresponding to the life of the project, as calculated on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles are considered as eligible. For land, costs of commercial transfer or actually incurred capital costs are eligible.

• (d) costs of contractual research, knowledge and patents bought or licensed from outside sources at arm's length conditions, as well as costs of consultancy and equivalent services used exclusively for the project;

• (e) additional overheads and other operating expenses, including costs of materials, supplies and similar products, incurred directly as a result of the project; without prejudice to Article 7(1), third sentence, such research and development project costs may alternatively be calculated on the basis of a simplified cost approach in the form of a flat-rate of up to 20 %, applied to total eligible research and development project costs referred to in points (a) to (d). In this case, the research and development project costs used for the calculation of the indirect costs shall be established on the basis of normal accounting practices and shall comprise only eligible research and development project costs referred to in points (a) to (d).

• (a) 100 % of the eligible costs for fundamental research;

• (b) 50 % of the eligible costs for industrial research;

• (c) 25 % of the eligible costs for experimental development;

• (d) 50 % of the eligible costs for feasibility studies.

• (a) by 10 percentage points for medium-sized enterprises and by 20 percentage point for small enterprises;

• (b) by 15 percentage points if one of the following conditions is fulfilled:
• (i) the project involves effective collaboration:
• — between undertakings among which at least one is an SME, or is carried out in at least two Member States, or in a Member State and in a Contracting Party of the EEA Agreement, and no single undertaking bears more than 70 % of the eligible costs, or
• — between an undertaking and one or more research and knowledge-dissemination organisations, where the latter bear at least 10 % of the eligible costs and have the right to publish their own research results;
• (ii) the results of the project are widely disseminated through conferences, publication, open access repositories, or free or open source software;
• (iii) the beneficiary commits to, on a timely basis, make available licences for research results of aided research and development projects, which are protected by intellectual property rights, at a market price and on non-exclusive and non-discriminatory basis for use by interested parties in the EEA;
• (iv) the research and development project is carried out in an assisted region fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3), point (a), of the Treaty;

• (c) by 5 percentage points if the research and development project is carried out in an assisted region fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3), point (c), of the Treaty;

• (d) by 25 percentage points if the research and development project:
• (i) has been selected by a Member State following an open call to form part of a project jointly designed by at least three Member States or contracting parties to the EEA Agreement; and
• (ii) involves effective collaboration between undertakings in at least two Member States or contracting parties to the EEA Agreement when the beneficiary is a SME, or in at least three Member States or contracting parties to the EEA Agreement when the beneficiary is a large enterprise; and
• (iii) if at least one the two following conditions is fulfilled:
• — the results of the research and development project are widely disseminated in at least three Member States or contracting parties to the EEA Agreement through conferences, publication, open access repositories, or free or open source software; or
• — the beneficiary commits to, on a timely basis, make available licences for research results of aided research and development projects, which are protected by intellectual property rights, at a market price and on non-exclusive and non-discriminatory basis for use by interested parties in the EEA.

Article 25a

Aid for projects awarded a Seal of Excellence quality label

Article 25b

Aid for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions and ERC Proof of Concept actions

Article 25c

Aid involved in co-funded research and development projects