Press Release: State aid: Commission temporarily authorises France to grant limited amounts of aid of up to €15,000 to farmers

The European Commission has authorised a French scheme of an approximate budget of €700 million which aims at supporting farmers who encounter difficulties as a result of the current economic crisis. Aid under this new scheme can be granted until 31 December 2010 and will take the form of direct grants, interest rate subsidies, subsidised loans as well as aid towards the payment of social security contributions. The French scheme is an application of the amendment to the Commission's Temporary framework for State aid measures to support access to finance in the current financial and economic crisis, which introduced the possibility of granting limited amounts of aid to primary agricultural producers.