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

Aid provided to a co-funded research and development project or a feasibility study (including research and development projects implemented under a European institutionalised Partnership based on Article 185 or Article 187 of the Treaty or a programme co-fund action, as defined in the Horizon Europe programme rules) which is implemented by at least three Member States, or alternatively two Member States and at least one associated country, and selected on the basis of the evaluation and ranking made by independent experts following trans-national calls in line with the Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe programme rules, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The eligible activities of the aided research and development project or feasibility study shall be those defined as eligible under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme rules, excluding activities going beyond experimental development activities.

The categories, maximum amounts and methods of calculation of eligible costs shall be those defined as eligible under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme rules.

The total public funding provided shall not exceed the funding rate established for the research and development project or feasibility study following the selection, ranking and evaluation under the Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe programme rules.

The funding provided by the Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe programme shall cover at least 30 % of the total eligible costs of a research and innovation action or an innovation action as defined under the Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe programme.

Aid provided to co-funded Teaming actions, involving at least two Member States and selected on the basis of the evaluation and ranking made by independent experts following transnational calls under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme rules, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The eligible activities of the co-funded Teaming action shall be those defined as eligible under the Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe programme rules. Activities going beyond experimental development activities are excluded.

The categories, maximum amounts and methods of calculation of eligible costs shall be those defined as eligible under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme rules. In addition, investment costs in project-related tangible and intangible assets shall be eligible.

The total public funding provided shall not exceed the funding rate established for the Teaming action following the selection, ranking and evaluation under the Horizon 2020 or the Horizon Europe programme rules. In addition, for investments in project related tangible and intangible assets the aid shall not exceed 70 % of the investment costs.

For investment aid for infrastructures under a Teaming action the following additional conditions shall apply:

Aid provided to co-fund a research and development project funded by the European Defence Fund or the European Defence Industrial Development Programme and which is evaluated, ranked and selected in line with the European Defence Fund or the European Defence Industrial Development Programme rules, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The eligible costs of the aided project shall be those defined as eligible under the European Defence Fund or the European Defence Industrial Development Programme rules.

The total public funding provided can reach up to 100 % of the eligible costs of the project, meaning that the costs of the project not covered by Union funding can be covered by State aid.

In case the aid intensity received by the beneficiary exceeds the maximum aid intensity the beneficiary could have received under Article 25(5), (6) and (7), the beneficiary must pay a market price to the granting authority to use for non-defence applications the intellectual property rights or prototypes resulting from the project. In any event, the maximum amount to be paid to the granting authority for this use shall not exceed the difference between the aid received by the beneficiary and the maximum amount of aid the beneficiary could have received applying the maximum aid intensity allowed for that beneficiary under Article 25(5), (6) and (7).

Aid for the construction or upgrade of research infrastructures that perform economic activities shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Where a research infrastructure pursues both economic and non-economic activities, the financing, costs and revenues of each type of activity shall be accounted for separately on the basis of consistently applied and objectively justifiable cost accounting principles.

The price charged for the operation or use of the infrastructure shall correspond to a market price.

Access to the infrastructure shall be open to several users and be granted on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis. Undertakings which have financed at least 10 % of the investment costs of the infrastructure may be granted preferential access under more favourable conditions. In order to avoid overcompensation, such access shall be proportional to the undertaking's contribution to the investment costs and these conditions shall be made publicly available.

The eligible costs shall be the investment costs in intangible and tangible assets.

The aid intensity shall not exceed 50 % of the eligible costs. The aid intensity may be increased up to 60 % subject to at least two Member States providing the public funding, or for a research infrastructure evaluated and selected at Union level.

Where a research infrastructure receives public funding for both economic and non-economic activities, Member States shall put in place a monitoring and claw-back mechanism in order to ensure that the applicable aid intensity is not exceeded as a result of an increase in the share of economic activities compared to the situation envisaged at the time of awarding the aid.

Aid for the construction or upgrade of testing and experimentation infrastructures shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The price charged for the operation or use of the infrastructure shall correspond to a market price or reflect their costs plus a reasonable margin in the absence of a market price.

Access to the infrastructure shall be open to several users and be granted on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis. Undertakings which have financed at least 10 % of the investment costs of the infrastructure may be granted preferential access under more favourable conditions. In order to avoid overcompensation, such access shall be proportional to the undertaking's contribution to the investment costs and these conditions shall be made publicly available.

The eligible costs shall be the investment costs in intangible and tangible assets.

The aid intensity shall not exceed 25 % of the eligible costs.

The aid intensity may be increased up to a maximum aid intensity of 40 %, 50 % and 60 % of the eligible investment costs of large, medium and small sized enterprises respectively as follows:

Aid for innovation clusters shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Investment aid can be granted to the owner of the innovation cluster. Operating aid can be granted to the operator of the innovation cluster. The operator, when different from the owner, can either have a legal personality or be a consortium of undertakings without a separate legal personality. In all instances separate accounting for the costs and revenues of each activity (ownership, operation and use of the cluster) has to be kept according to the applicable accounting standards by each undertaking.

Access to the cluster's premises, facilities and activities shall be open to several users and be granted on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis. Undertakings which have financed at least 10 % of the investment costs of the innovation cluster may be granted preferential access under more favourable conditions. In order to avoid overcompensation, such access shall be proportional to the undertaking's contribution to the investment costs and these conditions shall be made publicly available.

The fees charged for using the cluster’s facilities and for participating in the cluster’s activities shall correspond to the market price or reflect their costs including a reasonable margin.

Investment aid may be granted for the construction or upgrade of innovation clusters. The eligible costs shall be the investment costs in intangible and tangible assets.

The aid intensity of investment aid for innovation clusters shall not exceed 50 % of the eligible costs. The aid intensity may be increased by 15 percentage points for innovation clusters located in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3)(a) of the Treaty and by 5 percentage points for innovation clusters located in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty

Operating aid may be granted for the operation of innovation clusters. It shall not exceed 10 years.

The eligible costs of operating aid for innovation clusters shall be the personnel and administrative costs (including overhead costs) relating to:

The aid intensity of operating aid shall not exceed 50 % of the total eligible costs during the period over which the aid is granted.

Innovation aid for SMEs shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled:

The eligible costs shall be the following:

The aid intensity shall not exceed 50 % of the eligible costs.

In the particular case of aid for innovation advisory and support services the aid intensity can be increased up to 100 % of the eligible costs provided that the total amount of aid for innovation advisory and support services does not exceed EUR 220 000 per undertaking within any 3 year period.

Aid for process and organisational innovation shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Aid to large undertakings shall only be compatible if they effectively collaborate with SMEs in the aided activity and the collaborating SMEs incur at least 30 % of the total eligible costs.

The eligible costs shall be the following:

The aid intensity shall not exceed 15 % of the eligible costs for large undertakings and 50 % of the eligible costs for SMEs.

Aid for research and development in the fishery and aquaculture sector shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The aided project shall be of interest to all undertakings in the particular sector or sub-sector concerned.

Prior to the date of the start of the aided project the following information shall be published on the internet:

The results of the aided project shall be made available on internet from the end date of the aided project or the date on which any information concerning those results is given to members of any particular organisation, whatever comes first. The results shall remain available on internet for a period of at least 5 years starting from the end date of the aided project.

Aid shall be granted directly to the research and knowledge-dissemination organisation and shall not involve the direct granting of non-research related aid to an undertaking producing, processing or marketing fishery or aquaculture products.

The eligible costs shall be those provided in Article 25(3).

The aid intensity shall not exceed 100 % of the eligible costs.

Training aid shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Aid shall not be granted for training which undertakings carry out to comply with national mandatory standards on training.

The eligible costs shall be the following:

The aid intensity shall not exceed 50 % of the eligible costs. It may be increased, up to a maximum aid intensity of 70 % of the eligible costs, as follows:

Where the aid is granted in the maritime transport sector, the aid intensity may be increased to 100 % of the eligible costs provided that the following conditions are met:

Aid schemes for the recruitment of disadvantaged workers shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Eligible costs shall be the wage costs over a maximum period of 12 months following recruitment of a disadvantaged worker. Where the worker concerned is a severely disadvantaged worker, eligible costs shall be the wage costs over a maximum period of 24 months following recruitment.

Where the recruitment does not represent a net increase, compared with the average over the previous 12 months, in the number of employees in the undertaking concerned, the post or posts shall have fallen vacant following voluntary departure, disability, retirement on grounds of age, voluntary reduction of working time or lawful dismissal for misconduct and not as a result of redundancy.

Except in the case of lawful dismissal for misconduct, the disadvantaged workers shall be entitled to continuous employment for a minimum period consistent with the national legislation concerned or any collective agreements governing employment contracts.

If the period of employment is shorter than 12 months, or 24 months in the case of severely disadvantaged workers, the aid shall be reduced pro rata accordingly.

The aid intensity shall not exceed 50 % of the eligible costs.

Aid for the employment of workers with disabilities shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Eligible costs shall be the wage costs over any given period during which the worker with disabilities is employed.

Where the recruitment does not represent a net increase, compared with the average over the previous 12 months, in the number of employees in the undertaking concerned, the post or posts shall have fallen vacant following voluntary departure, disabilities, retirement on grounds of age, voluntary reduction of working time or lawful dismissal for misconduct and not as a result of redundancy.

Except in the case of lawful dismissal for misconduct, the workers with disabilities shall be entitled to continuous employment for a minimum period consistent with the national legislation concerned or any collective agreements which are legally binding for the undertaking and governing employment contracts.

The aid intensity shall not exceed 75 % of the eligible costs.

Aid for compensating the additional costs of employing workers with disabilities shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The eligible costs shall be the following:

The aid intensity shall not exceed 100 % of the eligible costs.

Aid for compensating the costs of assistance provided to disadvantaged workers shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempt from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The eligible costs shall be the costs of:

The assistance provided shall consist of measures to support the disadvantaged worker's autonomy and adaptation to the work environment, in accompanying the worker in social and administrative procedures, facilitation of communication with the entrepreneur and managing conflicts.

The aid intensity shall not exceed 50 % of the eligible costs.

Investment aid for environmental protection, including aid for the reduction and removal of greenhouse gas emissions, shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

The investment shall fulfil one of the following conditions:

Aid shall not be granted where investments are undertaken to ensure that undertakings merely comply with the Union standards in force. Aid enabling undertakings to comply with Union standards that have been adopted but not yet in force may be granted under this Article provided that the investment for which the aid is granted is implemented and finalised at least 18 months before the date of entry into force of the standard concerned.

The eligible costs shall be the extra investment costs determined by comparing the costs of the investment to those of a counterfactual scenario that would occur in the absence of the aid, as follows:

The aid intensity shall not exceed 40 % of the eligible costs. Where the investment, with the exception of those which rely on the use of biomass, results in a 100 % reduction of the direct greenhouse gas emissions, the aid intensity may reach 50 %.

In case of investments relating to CCS and/or CCU, the aid intensity shall not exceed 30 % of the eligible costs.

The aid intensity may be increased by 10 percentage points for aid granted to medium sized undertakings and by 20 percentage points for aid granted to small undertakings.

The aid intensity may be increased by 15 percentage points for investments located in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3)(a) of the Treaty and by 5 percentage points for investments located in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty.

The aid intensity may reach 100 % of the investment costs where aid is granted in a competitive bidding process, which fulfils all of the following conditions in addition to those laid down in Article 2, point (38):

Alternatively to paragraphs 4 to 9, the aid amount shall not exceed the difference between the investment costs directly linked to the achievement of a higher level of environmental protection and the operating profit of the investment. The operating profit shall be deducted from the eligible costs ex ante, on the basis of reasonable projections and verified ex post through a claw-back mechanism.

By way of derogation from paragraph 4, first subparagraph, points (a) to (d), and paragraphs 9 and 10, the eligible costs may be determined without the identification of the counterfactual scenario and in the absence of a competitive bidding process. In that case, the eligible costs shall be the investment costs directly linked to the achievement of a higher level of environmental protection and the applicable aid intensities and bonuses set out in paragraphs 5 to 8 are reduced by 50 %.

Investment aid for recharging or refuelling infrastructure shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

This Article shall only cover aid granted for recharging or refuelling infrastructures that supply vehicles, mobile terminal equipment or mobile groundhandling equipment with electricity or hydrogen. For aided refuelling infrastructure supplying hydrogen, the Member State shall obtain from the beneficiary a commitment that by 31 December 2035 at the latest, the refuelling infrastructure will solely supply renewable hydrogen. This Article does not apply to aid for investments relating to recharging and refuelling infrastructure in ports.

The eligible costs shall be the costs of the construction, installation, upgrade or extension of recharging or refuelling infrastructure. Those costs may include the costs of the recharging or refuelling infrastructure itself and related technical equipment, the installation of or upgrades to electrical or other components, including electrical cables and power transformers, required for connecting the recharging or refuelling infrastructure to the grid or to a local electricity or hydrogen production or storage unit, as well as civil engineering works, land or road adaptations, installation costs and costs for obtaining related permits.

Aid under this Article shall be granted in a competitive bidding process, which fulfils all of the following conditions in addition to those laid down in Article 2, point (38):

Where the aid is granted in a competitive bidding process complying with the conditions of paragraph 4, the aid intensity may reach up to 100 % of the eligible costs.

By way of derogation from paragraph 4, aid may be granted in the absence of a competitive bidding process when the aid is granted based on an aid scheme. In this case, the aid intensity shall not exceed 20 % of the eligible costs. The aid intensity may be increased by 20 percentage points for medium-sized enterprises and by 30 percentage points for small enterprises. The aid intensity may also be increased by 15 percentage points for investments located in assisted areas designated in an approved regional aid map in force at the time of provision of the aid in application of in Article 107(3), point (a), of the Treaty or by 5 percentage points for investments located in assisted areas designated in an approved regional aid map in force at the time of provision of the aid in application of Article 107(3), point (c), of the Treaty.

The aid granted to any one undertaking shall not exceed 40 % of the total budget of the scheme concerned.

Where the recharging or refuelling infrastructure is open for access by users other than the aid beneficiary or beneficiaries, aid shall only be granted for the construction, installation, upgrade or extension of recharging or refuelling infrastructure accessible to the public and providing non-discriminatory access to users, including in relation to tariffs, authentication and payment methods and other terms and conditions of use. The fees charged to users other than the aid beneficiary or beneficiaries for using the recharging or refuelling infrastructure shall correspond to market prices.

Operators of recharging or refuelling infrastructure that offer or allow contract-based payments on their infrastructure shall not discriminate between mobility service providers, for example by applying preferential access conditions, or through price differentiation without an objective justification.

The necessity of aid to invest in recharging or refuelling infrastructure of the same category as the one to be supported with aid (for example, for recharging infrastructure: normal or high power) shall be established through an ex ante open public consultation or an independent market study, which are no older than 1 year at the moment of the entry into force of the aid measure. In particular, it shall be established that no such investment is likely to take place on commercial terms within 3 years from the entry into force of the aid measure.

By way of derogation from paragraph 10, the necessity of aid for recharging or refuelling infrastructure for road vehicles shall be presumed where vehicles powered exclusively by electricity (for recharging infrastructures) or vehicles powered at least partially by hydrogen (for refuelling infrastructures) represent respectively less than 3 % of the total number of vehicles of the same category registered in the Member State concerned. For the purpose of this paragraph, passenger cars and light-duty commercial vehicles shall be considered as being part of the same category of vehicles.

Any concession or other entrustment to a third party to operate the supported recharging or refuelling infrastructure shall be assigned on a competitive, transparent and non-discriminatory basis, having due regard to the applicable procurement rules.

Where aid is granted for the deployment of new recharging infrastructure that allows for a transfer of electricity with a power output of less than or equal to 22 kW, the infrastructure must be capable of supporting smart recharging functionalities.

Investment aid for the acquisition of clean vehicles or zero-emission vehicles for road, railway, inland waterway and maritime transport and for the retrofitting of vehicles other than aircraft to qualify as clean vehicles or as zero-emission vehicles shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Aid shall be granted for the purchase or the leasing for a duration of at least 12 months of clean vehicles powered at least partially by electricity or by hydrogen or zero-emission vehicles and for the retrofitting of vehicles allowing them to qualify as clean vehicles or zero-emission vehicles.

The eligible costs shall be the following:

Aid under this Article shall be granted in a competitive bidding process, which fulfils all of the following conditions in addition to those laid down in Article 2, point (38):

Where the aid is granted in a competitive bidding process complying with the conditions of paragraph 4, the aid intensity shall not exceed:

By way of derogation from paragraph 4, aid may be granted outside of a competitive bidding process when the aid is granted based on an aid scheme.

By derogation from paragraph 4, aid may also be granted outside of a competitive bidding process when the aid is granted for undertakings that have been awarded a public service contract for the provision of public passenger transport services by land, rail or water following an open, transparent and non-discriminatory public tender only in relation to the acquisition of clean vehicles or zero-emission vehicles used for the provision of the public passenger transport services subject to the public service contract.

Investment aid enabling undertakings to improve energy efficiency other than in buildings shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Aid shall not be granted under this Article for investments undertaken to comply with Union standards that have been adopted and are in force. Aid may be granted under this Article for investments undertaken to comply with Union standards that have been adopted but are not yet in force, provided that the investment is implemented and finalised at least 18 months before the standard enters into force.

The eligible costs shall be the extra investment costs necessary to achieve the higher level of energy efficiency. They shall be determined by comparing the costs of the investment to those of the counterfactual scenario that would occur in the absence of the aid, as follows:

The aid intensity shall not exceed 30 % of the eligible costs.

The aid intensity may be increased by 20 percentage points for aid granted to small undertakings and by 10 percentage points for aid granted to medium-sized undertakings.

The aid intensity may be increased by 15 percentage points for investments located in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3)(a) of the Treaty and by 5 percentage points for investments located in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty.

The aid intensity may reach 100 % of the total investment costs where aid is granted in a competitive bidding process, which fulfils all of the following conditions in addition to those laid down in Article 2, point (38):

By way of derogation from paragraph 3, points (a) to (d) and paragraph 7, the eligible costs may be determined without the identification of the counterfactual scenario and in the absence of a competitive bidding process. In that case, the eligible costs shall be the total investment costs directly linked to the achievement of a higher level of energy efficiency and the applicable aid intensities and bonuses set out in paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 are reduced by 50 %.

Investment aid enabling undertakings to achieve energy efficiency in buildings shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Aid shall not be granted under this Article for investments undertaken to comply with Union standards that have been adopted and are in force.

Aid may be granted under this Article for investments undertaken to comply with Union standards that have been adopted but are not yet in force. Where the relevant Union standards are minimum energy performance standards, the aid must be granted before the standards become mandatory for the undertaking concerned. In that case, the Member State must ensure that beneficiaries provide a precise renovation plan and timetable demonstrating that the aided renovation is at least sufficient to ensure compliance with the minimum energy performance standards. Where the relevant Union standards are different from minimum energy performance standards, the investment must be implemented and finalised at least 18 months before the Union standard enters into force.

This Article shall not apply to aid for cogeneration and aid for district heating and/or cooling.

The eligible costs shall be the total investment costs. The costs not directly linked to the achievement of a higher level of energy efficiency in the building shall not be eligible.

The aid shall induce an improvement in the energy performance of the building measured in primary energy of at least: (i) 20 % compared to the situation prior to the investment in the case of renovation of existing buildings, or (ii) 10 % compared to the situation prior to the investment in the case of renovation measures concerning the installation or replacement of just one type of building elements as defined in Article 2(9) of Directive 2010/31/EU and such targeted renovation measures do not represent more than 30 % of the part of the scheme’s budget dedicated to energy efficiency measures, or (iii) 10 % compared to the threshold set for the nearly zero-energy building requirements in national measures transposing Directive 2010/31/EU in the case of new buildings. The initial primary energy demand and the estimated improvement shall be established by reference to an Energy Performance Certificate as defined in Article 2(12) of Directive 2010/31/EU.

The aid granted for the improvement of the energy efficiency of the building may be combined with aid for any or all of the following measures:

The aid may be granted either to the building owner(s) or the tenant(s), depending on who is commissioning the energy efficiency measure.

Aid may also be granted for the improvement of the energy efficiency of the heating or cooling equipment inside the building.

Aid for the installation of energy equipment fired by fossil fuels, including natural gas, shall not be exempted under this Article from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty.

The aid intensity shall not exceed 30 % of the eligible costs.

By way of derogation from paragraph 11, where the investment consists in the installation or replacement of just one type of building element as defined in Article 2(9) of Directive 2010/31/EU, the aid intensity shall not exceed 25 %.

By way of derogation from paragraphs 11 and 12, where aid for investments in buildings undertaken to comply with minimum energy performance standards qualifying as Union standards is granted less than 18 months before the Union standards enter into force, the aid intensity must not exceed 15 % of the eligible costs where the investment consists in the installation or replacement of just one type of building element as defined in Article 2(9) of Directive 2010/31/EU and 20 % in all other cases.

The aid intensity may be increased by 20 percentage points for aid granted to small undertakings and by 10 percentage points for aid granted to medium-sized undertakings.

The aid intensity may be increased by 15 percentage points for investments located in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3), point (a), of the Treaty and by 5 percentage points for investments located in assisted areas fulfilling the conditions of Article 107(3), point (c), of the Treaty.

The aid intensity may be increased by 15 percentage points for aid granted to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings, where the aid induces an improvement in the energy performance of the building measured in primary energy of at least 40 % compared to the situation prior to the investment. This increase in aid intensity does not apply where the investment does not improve the energy performance of the building beyond the level imposed by minimum energy performance standards qualifying as Union standards entering into force within less than 18 months from the moment the investment is implemented and finalised.

Aid for the facilitation of energy performance contracting shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Aid may be granted under this Article for the facilitation of energy performance contracting within the meaning of Article 2, point (27), of Directive 2012/27/EU.

Eligible for aid under this Article are SMEs and small mid-caps that are providers of energy performance improvement measures, and which are the final beneficiaries of the aid.

The aid shall take the form of a senior loan or guarantee to the provider of the energy efficiency improvement measures under an energy performance contract, or consist in a financial product aimed at financing the provider (for example, factoring or forfaiting).

The duration of the loan or guarantee to the provider of energy efficiency improvement measures shall not exceed 10 years.

Where the aid takes the form of a senior loan, the co-investment by commercial providers of debt funding shall not be lower than 30 % of the value of the underlying porfolio of energy performance contracts, and the repayment by the provider of energy efficiency improvement measures shall at least be equal to the nominal amount of the loan.

Where the aid takes the form of a guarantee, the guarantee shall not exceed 80 % of the underlying loan’s principal and losses are sustained proportionally and under the same conditions by the credit institution and the State. The guaranteed amount shall decrease proportionally, in such a way that the guarantee never covers more than 80 % of the outstanding loan.

The nominal amount of total outstanding financing provided per beneficiary shall not exceed EUR 30 million.

Investment aid for energy efficiency projects in buildings shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I are fulfilled.

Eligible for aid under this Article are investments improving the energy efficiency of buildings.

The eligible costs shall be the total costs of the energy efficiency project, except for buildings referred to in paragraph 2a, where the eligible costs shall be the total costs of the energy efficiency project as well as the investment cost of the various pieces of equipment listed in paragraph 2a.

The aid shall be granted in the form of an endowment, equity, a guarantee or a loan to an energy efficiency fund or other financial intermediary, which shall pass it on to the largest extent possible to the final beneficiaries, being the building owners or tenants, in the form of higher volumes of financing, lower collateral requirements, lower guarantee premiums or lower interest rates.

The energy efficiency fund or other financial intermediary shall grant loans or guarantees to the eligible energy efficiency projects. The nominal value of the loan or the amount guaranteed shall not exceed EUR 25 million per final beneficiary and project, except in the case of the combined investments referred to in paragraph 2a, where it shall not exceed EUR 30 million. The guarantee shall not exceed 80 % of the underlying loan.

The repayment by the building owners to the energy efficiency fund or other financial intermediary shall not be less than the nominal value of the loan.

The energy efficiency aid shall leverage additional investment from independent private investors as defined in Article 2, point (72), reaching at minimum 30 % of the total financing provided to an energy efficiency project. When the aid is provided by an energy efficiency fund, the leverage of such private investment can be done at the level of the energy efficiency fund and/or at the level of the energy efficiency projects, so as to achieve an aggregate minimum 30 % of the total financing provided to an energy efficiency project.

Member States can set up energy efficiency funds and/or can use financial intermediaries when providing energy efficiency aid. The following conditions must then be fulfilled: