De minimis aid

The main grounds for this exemption are that the amount awarded is so small that it is deemed not to have any effect on trade and/or to distort or threaten to distort competition.

The Research Council makes use of the de minimis aid exemption only to a limited extent. This will primarily be the case where the grants do not fall under the General Block Exemption Regulation for state aid, under which the Research Council normally grants state aid. Grants to undertakings under the application type Coordination and support activity take the form of de minimis aid.

Legal authority de minimis aid

De minimis aid is regulated in Commission Regulation (EU) No 2023/2831 of 13 December 2023.

The Commission regulation on de minimis aid (pdf).

Ceiling amount

The amount of de minimis aid that may be awarded to a single undertaking is maximum EUR 300 000 over a period of three fiscal years. Thus to be eligible for financial support, the applicant may not have received more than a total of EUR 300 000 in de minimis aid during a period of three fiscal years (i.e. the year the aid was disbursed and the two preceding years). The disbursement of de minimis aid by the Research Council must not lead awardees to exceed this ceiling.

The currency exchange rate in effect on the date when the funding pledge is granted serves as the basis for calculating the ceiling amount.

What constitutes a single undertaking?

The ceiling amount of EUR 300 000 applies to a single undertaking. For enterprises that are a part of a group of linked enterprises, the ceiling amount generally applies to the group as a whole.

To determine whether an enterprise is considered a single undertaking, see the definition in Article 2(2) of the Commission Regulation (EU) No 2023/2831 below:

Definition of “single undertaking”

2. ‘Single undertaking’ means, for the purposes of this Regulation, all enterprises having at least one of the following relationships with each other: 

(a) one enterprise has a majority of the shareholders’ or members’ voting rights in another enterprise;

(b) one enterprise has the right to appoint or remove a majority of the members of the administrative, management or supervisory body of another enterprise;

(c) one enterprise has the right to exercise a dominant influence over another enterprise pursuant to a contract entered into with that enterprise or pursuant to a provision in its memorandum or articles of association;

(d) one enterprise, which is a shareholder in or member of another enterprise, controls alone, pursuant to an agreement with other shareholders in or members of that enterprise, a majority of shareholders’ or members’ voting rights in that enterprise.

Enterprises having any of the relationships referred to in points (a) to (d) through one or more other enterprises shall also be considered to be a single undertaking.

Procedures for awarding financial support

The Research Council and other public bodies that award de minimis aid have an explicit obligation to inform recipients in writing that the financial support will be given as de minimis aid and must specify the amount of support to be awarded and refer expressly to the above regulation.

In all funding announcements under which support may potentially be awarded as de minimis aid the Research Council will provide clear information about this and what this entails for the recipient. Prior to disbursement of any de minimis aid, the Research Council will request written confirmation and an overview of all other de minimis aid that the undertaking has received in the course of the three fiscal years in question. For enterprises that are a part of a group of linked enterprises, the ceiling amount generally applies to the group as a whole.