Chapter II, Article 12 · Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2473

Contents

Article 12Evaluation#

1.Aid schemes referred to in Article 1(7) shall be subject to an ex post evaluation if they have a State aid budget or accounted expenditures over EUR 150 million in any given year or EUR 750 million over their total duration, i.e. the combined duration of the aid scheme and any predecessor aid scheme covering a similar objective and geographical area, starting from 1 January 2023. Ex post evaluations shall only be required for aid schemes the total duration of which exceeds 3 years, starting from 1 January 2023.

2.The ex post evaluation requirement may be waived for aid schemes that are an immediate successor of a scheme covering a similar objective and geographical area that has been subject to an evaluation, delivered a final evaluation report in compliance with the evaluation plan approved by the Commission and has not generated any negative findings. Where the final evaluation report of an aid scheme is not in compliance with the approved evaluation plan, that scheme shall be suspended with immediate effect. Any successor of such suspended aid scheme shall not be block exempted.

3.The aim of the evaluation shall be to verify whether the assumptions and conditions underlying the compatibility of the aid scheme have been achieved, in particular the necessity and the effectiveness of the aid measure in the light of its general and specific objectives. It shall also assess the impact of the scheme on competition and trade.

4.For aid schemes subject to the evaluation requirement pursuant to paragraph 1, Member States shall notify to the Commission a draft evaluation plan as follows:

(a)within 20 working days from the aid scheme's entry into force, if the budget of the aid scheme exceeds EUR 150 million in any given year or EUR 750 million over its total duration;

(b)within 30 working days following a significant change that increases the budget of the aid scheme to over EUR 150 million in any given year or EUR 750 million over the total duration of the aid scheme;

(c)within 30 working days following the recording in official accounts of expenditure under the aid scheme in excess of EUR 150 million in any year.

5.The draft evaluation plan shall be in line with the common methodological principles provided by the Commission^note. Member States shall publish the evaluation plan approved by the Commission.

6.The ex post evaluation shall be carried out by an expert independent from the aid granting authority on the basis of the evaluation plan. Each evaluation shall include at least one interim and one final evaluation report. Member States shall publish both reports.

7.The final evaluation report shall be submitted to the Commission at the latest 9 months before the expiry of the exempted aid scheme. That period may be reduced for aid schemes triggering the evaluation requirement in the last 2 years of implementation of the aid scheme. The precise scope and arrangements for each evaluation shall be set out in the Commission Decision approving the evaluation plan. The notification of any subsequent aid measure with a similar objective shall describe how the results of the evaluation have been taken into account.

Defined terms · 30

Show every defined term

ad hoc aid
means aid not granted on the basis of an aid scheme;
adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to a natural disaster
means unfavourable weather conditions such as frost, storms and hail, ice, heavy or persistent rainfall or severe droughts, which reduce by more than 30 % the average of the production calculated on the basis of one of the following methods:
aid
means any measure fulfilling all the criteria laid down in Article 107(1) TFEU;
aid intensity
means the gross aid amount expressed as a percentage of the eligible costs, before any deduction of tax or other charge;
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 granted to one or several undertakings for an indefinite period of time and/or for an indefinite amount;
biosecurity
means management and physical measures designed to reduce the risk of introduction, development and spread of diseases to, from and within: (a) an animal population, or (b) an establishment, zone, compartment, means of transport or any other facilities, premises or location;
control and eradication measures
means measures regarding animal diseases for which a competent authority has formally recognised an outbreak, or regarding plant pests or invasive alien species for which a competent authority has formally acknowledged their presence;
date of granting the aid
means the date when the legal right to receive the aid is conferred on the beneficiary undertaking under the applicable national legal regime;
depredation
means preying on fish caught in nets or kept in ponds by protected animals such as seals, sea otters and sea birds;
evaluation plan
means a document covering one or more aid schemes and containing at least the following minimum aspects: the objectives to be evaluated, the evaluation questions, the result indicators, the envisaged method to conduct the evaluation, the data collection requirements, the proposed timing of the evaluation including the date of submission of the interim and the final evaluation reports, the description of the independent body that will carry out the evaluation or the criteria that will be used for its selection and the modalities for making the evaluation publicly available;
fiscal successor scheme
means a scheme in the form of tax advantages which constitutes an amended version of a previously existing scheme in the form of tax advantages and which replaces it;
fisher
means any natural person engaging in commercial fishing activities, as recognised by the Member State concerned;
fishery and aquaculture products
means the products listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
fishery and aquaculture sector
means the sector of the economy which comprises all activities of production, processing, and marketing of fishery or aquaculture products;
fishing capacity
means a vessel’s tonnage in GT (Gross Tonnage) and its power in kW (Kilowatt) as defined in Articles 4 and 5 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1130 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
fishing port
means a maritime or inland area of land and water which is officially recognised by a Member State and made up of such infrastructure and equipment so as to permit, mainly, the reception of fishing vessels, loading and unloading their catches, the storage, receipt and delivery of those catches and the embarkation and disembarkation of fishers;
gross grant equivalent
means the amount of the aid if it had been provided in the form of a grant to the beneficiary undertaking, before any deduction of tax or other charges;
individual aid
means ad hoc aid and awards of aid to individual beneficiaries on the basis of an aid scheme;
inland fishing
means fishing activities carried out for commercial purposes in inland waters by vessels or other devices, including those used for ice fishing;
invasive alien species
means invasive alien species of Union concern and invasive alien species of Member State concern as defined in Article 3(3) and 3(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014’);
micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
means undertakings fulfilling the criteria laid down in Annex I;
mutual fund
means a scheme accredited by the Member State, in accordance with its national law, which enables affiliated fishers to insure themselves, whereby compensation payments are made to affiliated fishers for economic losses caused by the events listed in paragraph 1, point (a).
natural disasters
means earthquakes, avalanches, landslides, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and wild fires of natural origin;
outermost regions
means the regions referred to in Article 349 TFEU;
protected animal
means any animal other than fish protected either by Union or by national legislation;
repayable advance
means a loan for a project which is paid in one or more instalments and the conditions for the reimbursement of which depend on the outcome of the project;
small-scale coastal fishing
means fishing activities carried out by: (a) marine and inland fishing vessels of an overall length of less than 12 metres and not using towed gear as defined in point (1) of Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006;
start of works
means the earlier of either the start of construction works relating to the investment, or the first legally binding commitment to order equipment or any other commitment that makes the investment irreversible.
subsidised services
means a form of aid, where the aid is granted to the final beneficiary undertaking indirectly, in kind, and is paid to the provider of the service or activity in question;
undertaking in difficulty
means an undertaking fulfilling the criteria laid down in Article 2, point (18), of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014.