Son Excellence Monsieur Jean-Marc AYRAULT Ministre Des Affaires Étrangères Et Du Développement International 37, Quai D'orsay F - 75351 – PARIS
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 10.2.2017 C(2017) 723 final PUBLIC VERSION This document is made available for information purposes only. Subject: State Aid SA.47094 (2016/N) – France Amendment to the Regional aid map 2014-2020 – Second use of the population reserve Sir, 1. PROCEDURE (1) On 7 May 2014, the Commission approved the French Regional aid map (SA.38182)1 for the period from 1 July 2014 until 31 December 2020. This approved aid map contained a population reserve equivalent to 233,757 inhabitants. On 3 June 2015, the Commission approved the first use of the population reserve leaving an unused population reserve of 172,207 inhabitants for future use2. (2) By electronic notifications of 20 December 2016 (2016/125894), and 6 January 2017 (2017/001532) the French authorities notified an amendment to their map in order to make a second use of the population reserve. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE MEASURE (3) In their notification, the French authorities propose 52 extra municipalities with a total of 128,060 inhabitants to be eligible for regional aid under the derogation provided in Article 107(3)(c) of the TFEU until 31 December 2020. These municipalities are notified as non-predefined 'c' area. 1 Commission decision C(2014) 2609 final, OJ C 348, 3.09.2014, p. 16. 2 Commission decision C(2015) 3613 final, OJ C 325, 14.09.2015, p. 12. Son Excellence Monsieur Jean-Marc AYRAULT Ministre des Affaires étrangères et du Développement international 37, Quai d'Orsay F - 75351 – PARIS Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111 2.1. Population reserve (4) In the approved regional aid map for the period 1 July 2014 to 31 December 2020, a population reserve is foreseen in accordance with paragraph 180 of the RAG. This population reserve after the first use of the reserve is equivalent to 172,207 inhabitants, based on the most recent data on the resident population as published by the national statistical office3. (5) The paragraphs 181 and 182 of the RAG provide that if a Member State decides to use the reserve to add new ‘c’ areas in its map, this is possible until its national coverage ceiling is reached. For this purpose, a Member State may refer to the most recent socioeconomic data provided by Eurostat or by its national statistical office or other recognised sources. The population of the ‘c’ areas concerned should be calculated on the basis of the population data used for establishing the initial map. The Member State must notify the Commission each time it intends to use its population reserve to add new ‘c’ areas prior to putting into effect such amendments. 2.2. Non-predefined Article 107(3)(c) area (6) The French authorities propose to use this population reserve to designate 52 extra municipalities as non-predefined 'c' areas for eligibility on the basis of the regional aid derogation laid down in Article 107(3)(c) TFEU for the period from the date of adoption of this decision until 31 December 2020, with a total population of 128,060 inhabitants. (7) The French authorities propose to add 51 municipalities as non-predefined 'c' areas to existing contiguous zones in accordance with Criterion 1 as set out in paragraph 168(a) of the RAG. Table 1 below presents the proposed non- predefined 'c' areas along with the maximum aid intensity to be applied in that area: Table 1: non-predefined 'c' area proposed under Criterion 1 Name of zone NUTS Code Name of LAU 2 Population4 Max. aid intensity Est Lorrain - FR414 Vosges Ban de Laveline 1 305 10% GGE Nord Franche- La Croix-aux-Mines 547 10% GGE Comté FR431 Doubs Bavans 3 573 10% GGE Bart 1 989 10% GGE Nemours – FR241 Cher Nançay 882 10% GGE Montargis FR246 Loiret Chevillon sur Huillard 1 308 10% GGE Littoral FR302 Pas-de- Sangatte 4 673 10% GGE Calais Escalles 301 10% GGE Peuplingues 697 10% GGE Grand Perche FR514 Sarthe Arçonnay 1 852 10% GGE Normandie - FR232 Seine- Port-Jérôme sur Seine 9 480 10% GGE Vallée de la Maritime Petiville 1 057 10% GGE Seine FR231 Eure Trouville la Haute 765 10% GGE 3 France - population census 2010. 4 France – population census 2010 2 Picardie - Marne FR221 Aisne Vénérolles 10% GGE 216 - Ardennes Sud Haut-Rhin FR422 Haut-Rhin Issenheim 3 434 10% GGE Sentheim 1 596 10% GGE Lauw 962 10% GGE Ardennes-Nord FR211 Ardennes Deville 1 131 10% GGE Charentes - FR633 Haute- Saint-Laurent-sur-Gorre 1 393 10% GGE Limousin zone Vienne Oradour-sur-Vayres 1 518 10% GGE Nord Châlus 1 628 10% GGE Champagnac-la-Rivière 560 10% GGE FR631 Corrèze Meymac 2 526 10% GGE FR531 Charentes Voeuil et Giget 1 603 10% GGE Saint-Groux 140 10% GGE Limousin zone FR633 Haute- Pierre-Buffière 1 150 10% GGE Sud Vienne Saint-Maurice-les- 965 10% GGE Brousses Saint-Jean-Ligoure 418 10% GGE Les Cars 598 10% GGE Rilhac-Lastours 353 10% GGE Haut Jura - Côte FR432 Jura Lamoura 529 10% GGE D'Or Maine-et-Loire - FR512 Maine-et- Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe 3 016 10% GGE Sud Sarthe Loire Etriché 1 541 10% GGE Neuillé 945 10% GGE FR514 Sarthe Arnage 5 118 10% GGE Aire centrale FR302 Pas-de- Racquinghem 2 312 10% GGE Calais Eperlecques 3 225 10% GGE Houlle 983 10% GGE Serques 1 149 10% GGE Evin-Malmaison 4 544 10% GGE Piémont FR626 Hautes- Bénac 508 10% GGE pyrénéen et Pyrénées Gascogne industriels Haute-Marne - FR411 Meurthe- Custines 10% GGE 2 950 Ouest Lorrain et-Moselle Dordogne FR611 Dordogne Ligueux 268 10% GGE Nîmes - Gard FR812 Gard Manduel 5 690 10% GGE Rhodanien Redessan 3 763 10% GGE Avignon Berre FR824 Bouches- Ensuès-la-Redonne 10% GGE 5 225 du-Rhône Montpellier FR813 Hérault Mauguio 16 307 10% GGE Piémont FR624 Gers Bézéril 116 10% GGE pyrénéen et Lahas 166 10% GGE Gascogne industriels Dieppe - Vallée FR232 Seine- Ponts-et-Marais 828 10% GGE de la Bresle Maritime 3 Aube - Nièvre - FR212 Aube Gélannes 722 10% GGE Yonne Total population 108 434 (8) The French authorities propose to add 1 municipality as a non-predefined 'c' area to an existing zone in accordance with Criterion 5 as set out in paragraph 168(e) of the RAG. Table 2 below presents the proposed non-predefined 'c' area along with the maximum aid intensity to be applied in that area: Table 1: non-predefined 'c' area proposed under Criterion 5 Name of zone NUTS Code Name of LAU 2 Population5 Max. aid intensity Flin-sur-Seine FR103 Yvelines Archères 19 626 10% GGE – Carrières- sous-Poissy Total 19 626 2.3. Maximum aid intensities for SMEs (9) In accordance with paragraph 177 of the RAG, the French authorities propose that the maximum aid intensities applicable to large enterprises can be increased by up to 20 percentage points for small enterprises and by up to 10 percentage points for medium-sized enterprises. However, the increased maximum aid intensities for SMEs will not apply to aid awarded for large investment projects with eligible expenditure above EUR 50 million. 3. ASSESSMENT OF THE MEASURE 3.1. Proposed second use of the population reserve (10) In accordance with the decision of 7 May 20146, France could designate areas with a population of up to 0.36% of the national population (or 233,757 inhabitants) as non-predefined ‘c’ areas using its population reserve7. (11) In accordance with the decision of 3 June 20158, France can still designate areas with a population of up to 172,207 inhabitants as non-predefined 'c' areas using it remaining population reserve9. (12) France proposes 52 additional municipalities with a total population of 128,060 inhabitants, which leaves a population reserve of 44,147 inhabitants for future use. (13) According to paragraph 168(a) of the RAG, a Member State may designate as non-predefined ‘c’ areas under Criterion 1 contiguous areas of at least 100,000 inhabitants located in NUTS 2 or NUTS 3 regions that have a GDP per capita 5 France – population census 2010 6 See footnote 1 above. 7 See recital 33. 8 C(2015) 3613 final. See footnote 2 above. 9 Recital 15. 4 below or equal to the EU-27 average or an unemployment rate above or equal to 115 of the national average. (14) According to paragraph 168(e) of the RAG, a Member State may designate as non-predefined ‘c’ areas under Criterion 5 contiguous areas of at least 50,000 inhabitants that are undergoing major structural change or are in serious relative decline, provide that such areas are not located in NUTS3 regions or contiguous areas that fulfil the conditions to be designated as predefined areas or under Criteria 1 to 4. (15) According to paragraph 169 of the RAG, for the purpose of applying the criteria set out in paragraph 168, the notion of contiguous areas refers to whole local administrative unit 2 (LAU 2) areas or to a group of whole LAU 2 areas. A group of LAU 2 areas will be considered to form a contiguous area if each of those areas in the group shares an administrative border with another area in the group. (16) The Commission considers that the newly proposed municipalities fulfil the conditions of Criterion 1 for the following reason: They are all entire LAU 2 areas located within NUTS2 or NUTS3 regions which have a GDP below the EU27 average10. All the additional municipalities proposed are adjacent to existing Criterion 1 zones which form contiguous areas and already respected the minimal population thresholds11.