EU raises the de minimis aid ceiling for farmers to €50,00

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 17 - The European Commission is increasing the de minimis aid ceiling that a Member State can grant to each farm without prior approval from Brussels, from €25,000 to €50,000.
    The proposed revision of limited agricultural aid was presented on December 10 following a consultation with Member States that began in the summer and lasted for months.
    The revised regulation will come into effect three days after its publication in the Official Journal and will apply until December 31, 2032 (the current regulation was set to expire in 2027).
    Specifically, Brussels proposes raising the aid ceiling to €50,000 over three years and adjusting the "national thresholds," which will be calculated based on the value of the Member State's agricultural production.
    The reference period will also be extended from 2012-2017 to 2012-2023 to account for "the increase in the value of agricultural production, especially in recent years," a statement reads.
    Initially, Brussels proposed raising the ceiling to €37,000, but ultimately yielded to pressure from Berlin and Paris, which, supported by other capitals, pushed for a doubling of the ceiling over a three-year period.
    To improve transparency, Brussels also aims to make the central registry for de minimis aid mandatory at either the national or European level, which is currently optional.
    The revision also eliminates the existing "sectoral ceiling," which prevented Member States from granting de minimis aid exceeding 50% of the national threshold to a single sector. This measure, highlighted by the new EU Vice President for Competition, Teresa Ribera, is intended to support farmers facing "inflationary pressures and high raw material prices".
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    (ANSA).