Chapter III, Section 4, Article 51 · Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2473

Contents

Article 51Aid to make good the damage caused by adverse climatic events which can be assimilated to a natural disaster#

1.Aid to make good the damage caused by adverse climatic events which can be assimilated to a natural disaster fulfilling the conditions laid down in Chapter I of this Regulation shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3), point (c), TFEU and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) thereof provided that it fulfils the conditions laid down in this Article.

10.The aid granted and any other payments received to compensate the damage, including payments under insurance policies, shall be limited to 100 % of the eligible costs.

2.Aid fulfils the following conditions:

(a)the competent authority of the Member State has formally recognised the character of the adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to a natural disaster; and

(b)there is a direct causal link between the adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to a natural disaster and the damage suffered by the undertaking.

3.Member States may, where appropriate, establish in advance criteria on the basis of which the formal recognition referred to in paragraph (2)(a) of this Article is deemed to be granted.

4.The aid shall be paid directly to the undertaking concerned.

5.Aid schemes shall be established within three years from the date of the occurrence of the adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to a natural disaster. The aid shall be paid out within four years from that date.

6.The eligible costs may be the damage incurred as a direct consequence of the adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to a natural disaster, as assessed either by a public authority, by an independent expert recognised by the granting authority or by an insurance undertaking. That damage may include the following:

(a)material damage to assets such as buildings, equipment, machinery, stocks and means of production; or

(b)loss of income due to the full or partial destruction of fishery or aquaculture production or the means of such production for a period not exceeding six months from the occurrence of the adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to a natural disaster.

7.The calculation of the material damage shall be based on the repair cost or economic value of the affected asset before the adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to a natural disaster. It shall not exceed the repair cost or the decrease in fair market value caused by the adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to a natural disaster, namely the difference between the asset’s value immediately before and immediately after the adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to a natural disaster.

8.The loss of income shall be calculated by subtracting:

(a)the result of multiplying the quantity of the fishery and aquaculture products produced in the year of the adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to a natural disaster, or in each following year affected by the full or partial destruction of the means of production, by the average selling price obtained during that year; from

(b)the result of multiplying the average annual quantity of fishery and aquaculture products produced in the three-year period preceding the adverse climatic events condition which can be assimilated to a natural disaster, or a three year average based on the five-year period preceding the adverse climatic events which can be assimilated to a natural disaster, excluding the highest and lowest entry, by the average selling price obtained.

9.The damage shall be calculated at the level of the individual undertaking. Where an SME was set up less than three years from the date of the occurrence of the event, the reference to the three-year periods in paragraph 7, point (b), shall be understood as referring to the turnover generated or quantity of fishery and aquaculture products produced and sold by an average undertaking of the same size as the applicant, namely a micro enterprise or a small enterprise or a medium enterprise, respectively, in the national or regional sector affected by the adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to a natural disaster.

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.