Decision No 1413/2013/EU amending Decision 2002/546/EC as regards its period of application

Summary:

Council Decision of 17 December 2013 extending the period of application of Decision 2001/546/EC on the AEIM tax arrangements in the Canary Islands.

Further information:

Council Decision 2002/546/EC authorised Spain, up to 31 December 2011, to apply exemptions from or reductions in the ‘Arbitrio sobre Importaciones y Entregas de Mercancías en las Islas Canarias’ (AIEM) to certain products produced locally in the Canary Islands. The Decision sets out the reasons for adopting specific measures, which include isolation, raw material and energy dependence, the obligation to build up stocks, the small size of the local market and the low level of export activity. The specific measures were designed to strengthen local industry by making it more competitive.

In November 2010, Spain submitted a request to extend the period of application of Decision 2002/546/EC for two years, so that its expiry date coincided with the one of the Guidelines on national regional aid for 2007-2013. The European Commission assessed the request in light of the scale of the handicaps affecting the Canary Islands and came to the conclusion that it was justified to grant the requested extension. Therefore in December 2011 Council Decision 895/2011/EU amended Decision 2002/546/EC, extending its period of application up to 31 December 2013.

In June 2013 the Commission adopted new regional aid guidelines for the period 2014-2020. These Guidelines are part of a broader strategy to modernise state aid control, aiming at fostering growth in the Single Market by encouraging more effective aid measures and focusing the Commission’s enforcement on cases with the biggest impact on competition. Considering that these Guidelines will enter into force on 1 July 2014, it seems justified to extend the period of application of Decision 2002/546/EC, as amended by Decision 895/2011/EU, for a further six months, so that its expiry date coincides with the date of entry into force of the Guidelines.

• Prif ffynhonnell

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)781: Proposal for a Council Decision amending Decision 2002/546/EC as regards its period of application https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:781:FIN

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