Royal Decree 899/2007 of 6 July approving the Regulation on regional incentives for the development of Law 50/1985 of 27 December 1985 on regional incentives for the correction of imbalances (a) inter-territorial economic conditions, adapted the legal system of regional incentives to the existing Community legislation on regional aid.

In the Official Journal of the European Union on 23 July 2013, the Guidelines on State aid for regional purposes were published for 2014-2020 (2013/C 209/01). Furthermore, in the Official Journal of the European Union on 26 June 2014, Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common agricultural policy has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. internal market pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty.

This legislation has introduced some innovations in the area of eligible investments, accreditation of non-starter of investments through the abolition of "communication of eligibility", as well as for the demonstration of the incentive effect of the aid in order to be eligible for aid, which requires the amendment of Articles 8, 9, 22 and 24 of the Regional Incentive Regulation, of the development of Law 50/1985 of 27 December.

Likewise, the eighth final provision of Law 39/2010, of December 22, of General State Budgets for the year 2011, has modified the wording of article 13.2.b) of Law 38/2003, of 17 November, General of Grants, as regards requirements, in order to be eligible for grants to undertakings which have been declared in competition. Since, in accordance with the provisions of the additional provision of that law, the regional incentives are generally governed by their specific rules and are only applicable to Law 38/2003 of 17 November, in an additional manner, the wording of Article 15 (1) (b) of the Rules of Procedure is amended to give the wording identical to that of that law.

It reintroduces as an incentive to the acquisition of intangible assets, with the limits provided for in the Regulation, and it is reduced from five million euros to one million the limit that allows the beneficiary of a subsidy of regional incentives to apply for charges on account as the investment is justified.

For small and medium-sized enterprises it is reduced from five years to three years of the obligation to maintain investments under normal operating conditions, counted from the date of the end of the term in the individual grant resolution.

Finally, in terms of control and inspection of incentives, a number of criteria are introduced to assess the proportionality of certain non-compliances.

In the process of drawing up this royal decree, the autonomous communities and cities with the Autonomous Statute affected have been consulted and the Council of Regional Incentives has issued a report.

In its virtue, on the proposal of the Minister of Finance and Public Administrations, in agreement with the Council of State and after deliberation of the Council of Ministers at its meeting of April 24, 2015,

DISPONGO:

Single item. Amendment of the Regulation on regional incentives for the development of Law 50/1985 of 27 December, approved by Royal Decree 899/2007 of 6 July.

The Regulation on Regional Incentives for the Development of Law 50/1985 of 27 December is amended as follows:

One. Article 8 is worded as follows:

" Article 8. Other conditions required for projects.

Investment projects that are intended to benefit from the regional incentive scheme must meet the following requirements:

a) Be technically, economically and financially viable, according to the documentation provided in the application.

b) Dispose of a level of self-financing not less than that specified in the Royal Decrees of delimitation and in any case equal to or greater than 25 percent. In addition, the company that promotes the project must have a minimum level of own funds that will be set in the individual grant resolution according to the criteria to be set by the Regional Incentive Rector Board.

(c) The application to benefit from the benefits must be submitted before the start of the investment for which the regional incentives are requested, so that the investment can only be started after the submission of such application.

To these effects, by the "start of investments" it is understood either the start of construction work on the investment, or the first firm commitment for the order of equipment or another commitment that makes the investment irreversible, if this date is earlier. The purchase of land and preparatory work such as obtaining permits and carrying out prior feasibility studies are not considered to be the start of the work.

(d) The aid must have an incentive effect, consisting in the fact that the applicant undertaking the project would not have done so without the aid, or would have undertaken only in a limited or different way or elsewhere, so that, together with the requirement mentioned in the previous paragraph, when applying for the aid, it should be explained what effect on the investment decision or on the decision to locate the investment would have occurred if the regional incentives were not received. In addition, large companies must present documentary evidence to support the above. "

Two. Article 9 (1) is worded as follows:

" 1. The investment concepts that may be encouraged shall be new or first-use fixed assets, referring to the following investment elements:

a) Civil Work.

b) Equipment assets, excluding foreign transport items.

c) In the case of small and medium-sized enterprises, up to 50 percent of the costs arising from previous project studies, including: planning, project engineering and management Optional projects.

(d) Intangible assets, as long as they do not exceed 30 percent of the total of the incentive investment, are used exclusively in the center where the project is carried out, are inventorable, depreciable and are acquired in market conditions to third parties not related to the buyer.

e) Other concepts, exceptionally.

For the determination of the amounts of eligible investments corresponding to the previous paragraphs, the Regional Incentive Rector may set up modules per unit of measure, so that ensure that market prices are not exceeded. "

Three. Article 15 (1) (b) shall be worded as follows:

" (b) The declaration of a voluntary tender, having been declared insolvent in any proceedings, has been declared as a contest, unless the effectiveness of an agreement has been acquired in the contest, judicial intervention or having been disabled in accordance with Law 22/2003 of 9 July, Insolvency, without the end of the period of disablement fixed in the judgment of qualification of the contest. "

Four. Article 16 (1) (b) shall be worded as follows:

" (b) If the aid is determined as a percentage of the approved investment, it must be maintained in the economic promotion zone where the aid was granted and under normal operating conditions for a minimum period of five years, if it is a large enterprise, and three years if it is a small or medium-sized enterprise, as of the end of life date set out in the individual grant resolution. "

Five. Article 22 (1) (f) is worded as follows:

"f) Manage and process the request files."

Six. Article 24 is worded as follows:

" Article 24. Early execution of projects.

The applicants for regional incentives will be able to implement the investments without waiting for the final resolution to be adopted, provided they properly credit, in the form established by the Ministry of Hacienda and Administraciones Públicas, which had not been initiated before submitting the application without prejudice to the decision to be taken. "

Seven. Article 37 (3) is worded as follows:

" 3. Partial account settlement.

Within the period of validity, the beneficiary may apply to the Autonomous Community for payment on account of the grant, as the investment is justified, provided that it is authorised in the corresponding Individual Concession Resolution.

Even if you have received partial amounts of the grant before the end of the term, the beneficiary must complete the provisions of Article 38 of this Regulation.

In no case shall the associated investment and grant schedules for files with a grant amount less than EUR 1 million be agreed. "

Eight. Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 41 are worded as follows:

" 1. All the effects on the beneficiary's ownership affecting the project produced during the five-year period following the end of life, if it is a large enterprise, or three years if it is an SME, shall be communicated to the body. competent authority of the Autonomous Community. The impact will be resolved by the Directorate-General for Community Funds.

3. The resolution of the incidence of transmission shall contain the joint and several liability of the transmitter, the holder of the incentives, and the new purchaser in respect of compliance with the conditions pending taking into account the time limits laid down. respectively for the maintenance of employment and for the maintenance of investment. This responsibility must be expressly accepted by the two companies. "

Nine. Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 42 are worded as follows:

" 2. In order to carry out the checks on the maintenance obligation described in the previous point, the beneficiary must make an inventory of the goods covered by the grant referred to in the Article at the end of the period of validity. 34.1. This inventory shall contain the information necessary to verify the maintenance of the investments of your property within five or three years after the end of the term of validity, as appropriate, in accordance with the standard model which is established by the Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations. In the period from six to three months before the end of the period for the maintenance of investments, the beneficiary shall, once again, submit to the competent authority of the Autonomous Community the same model of the inventory of assets to that date, in which case the asset losses and the dates on which they were produced shall be reflected, as well as the identification of the replacement assets and the dates of their incorporation. The competent authority of the Autonomous Community shall forward to the Directorate-General for Community Funds the report on the degree of compliance with this condition, after the physical verification of the existence of the goods before the end of the time limit set for the maintenance of investments.

The failure to comply with paragraph 1 or the failure to submit within the prescribed time limits of the inventory of goods referred to in this paragraph could result in the declaration of loss of the grant awarded prior to the processing of the non-compliance procedure laid down in Article 45.

3. The granting of Regional Incentives shall be subject to maintenance for two years from the date of the end of the required jobs, which shall include the posts to be maintained for the duration and maintenance period. of the posts to be created, if any, in order to be effective. "

Ten. Article 46 is worded as follows:

" Article 46. Failure to comply with conditions and graduation of its scope.

1. The declaration of non-compliance and, where appropriate, the total or partial drawback of the amounts received, and the requirement of interest for late payment due from the date of payment of the subsidy up to the date on which the source is agreed of the drawback, in the following cases:

(a) Failure to comply with the obligations of justification, communication or accreditation, insufficient justification, or justification outside the time limit set.

b) Get the grant without meeting the required conditions for it.

c) Distortion, inaccuracy or omission in the data provided by the beneficiary who have served as the basis for the concession.

d) Failure to comply with the purpose for which the grant was granted.

e) Failure to comply with the conditions imposed on the beneficiaries on the basis of the grant of the grant.

f) Incur at any time before the end of the term of validity of the incentives in any of the causes provided for in Article 15 of this Regulation.

g) Obtain the subsidy for an amount, the amount of which, in isolation or in competition with grants or aid from other public or private authorities or other public authorities, exceeds the maximum investment ceilings approved in accordance with Article 13 of this Regulation, as well as the corresponding Royal Decrees of delimitation.

h) Failure to comply with the obligations of the beneficiary provided for in Article 16 of this Regulation.

2. In the case of conditions relating to the amount of the investment, the extent of the non-compliance shall be determined in proportion to the investment which has been unduly paid or practised.

If the breach exceeds 50 per 100 the scope of the default will be total.

3. In the case of conditions relating to the maintenance of investment under normal operating conditions during the periods referred to in Article 16 (1) (b), the extent of the non-compliance shall be determined in a manner proportional to the unmaintained investment and to the period during which the requirements have been breached.

If the breach exceeds 50 per 100 the scope of the default will be total.

4. In the case of conditions relating to the creation and maintenance of jobs, both in the period of validity and in the period of two years after the end of the period, the extent of the non-compliance shall be determined in the proportion in which the that condition has been breached by relating to posts not held or not created with which the beneficiary would have been required in the relevant decision and, where appropriate, at the time of the relevant period, measured in months, during which the condition has been breached. For this purpose, in the months in which the average level of employment of the beneficiary equals or exceeds the level laid down in the resolution, the conditions have been met, but the excess of the jobs on which he was obliged to maintain or create will not be compensated for posts that have not been maintained or created in other different monthly periods.

In any case, the obligation to maintain employment, both during the period of validity and during the period after the end of the term, will require that neither the level of employment at the time of the end of each period nor the average employment by calculating the total number of jobs maintained during the period considered, is lower than the level of employment to be set in the resolution.

Similarly, the obligation to create employment, both during the period of validity and during the period after the end of the term, will require that the level of employment at the time of the end of each period is not lower than the level of employment to keep fixed in the resolution plus half of the job to be created.

If the requirements set out in the previous two paragraphs are not respected, the default shall exceed 50 per 100 or result in the destruction of employment, the extent of the non-compliance shall be total.

5. In the case of incentives for an amount, the amount of which, in isolation or in competition with other subsidies or public aid exceeds the ceilings referred to in Article 3.2 of Law 50/1985, the amount of the aid shall be reduced incentives in excess of the maximum ceilings of the approved investment.

6. In any case, the extent of the non-compliance will be total in the following cases:

a) Get the grant without meeting the required conditions for it.

(b) Where the minimum level of self-financing required by the award decision is not credited on the basis of Article 8 (b).

c) Failure to comply with the purpose for which the grant was granted.

d) Non-registration in the Official Records required by the legislation for the development of the subsidised activity.

e) Carishing of the permits, licenses or authorizations required by the applicable regulations that are necessary to make the investments committed or to develop the activity subsidized under normal conditions operation.

f) When the beneficiary does not credit that it is aware of its tax and social security obligations.

g) The lack of collaboration with the audit and control actions referred to in Article 16.1.e.

(h) When, at any time of validity, the beneficiary incurs the situations of prohibition of access to the regional incentives provided for in Article 15 of this Regulation.

(i) If, as a result of the non-compliance, the eligible investment is below the minimum set in the actual delimitation decrees for concession purposes.

j) When the resulting amount of the incentives does not exceed 35 per 100 of the initially approved.

k) Where the time-limits laid down in the granting resolution for the accreditation of the fulfilment of conditions, including those provided for in the intermediate conditions laid down in Article 33, are not met.

(l) Where the grant received for the same project exceeds the ceilings established on the basis of a subsidy not communicated within the time limits laid down in Article 16 (h).

m) When the post-grant entitlement incidents are not reported within the time limit provided for in Article 31.3.

n) The non-filing within the specified period of the inventory of goods referred to in Article 42.2.

7. If the non-compliance derives from the non-observance of any condition or assumption other than the previous ones, its scope, total or partial, shall be determined according to the degree and entity of the unfulfilled condition.

8. The concurrence of different causes of non-compliance will result in the joint appreciation of the same to determine the extent of the non-compliance.

For these purposes, the scope of the default, as long as 100, will be obtained by subtracting from 100 the product of the degree of compliance, by 100, of each and every one of the conditions.

9. Where the extent of the non-compliance is total as set out in the preceding paragraphs, no grant shall be granted to the beneficiary, giving rise, where appropriate, to the reimbursement of the amounts received and the requirement of the interest for late payment.

In other cases, the subsidy to be granted to the beneficiary will be obtained by reducing the subsidy granted in the percentage of the scope of the non-compliance, giving rise, where appropriate, to the reimbursement of the amounts overperceived and the requirement of the corresponding interest for late payment. "

Single transient arrangement. Maintenance of the condition of employment, non-compliance and graduation of its scope.

In the case of aid granted before the entry into force of this royal decree in which the period of validity laid down in the individual decision to grant was not completed, it shall apply to the aid in question. (a) in respect of the obligation to maintain the posts required pursuant to Article 42 (3) and in accordance with the criteria to determine the non-compliance with the condition of employment and to establish its scope are laid down in the Article 46 (4), provided that this is more favourable to the beneficiary. The same shall apply to aid for which the period of two years after the end of the period has not been fulfilled, exclusively in respect of the obligation to maintain the posts required during the period referred to above. period.

Final disposition first. Enablement.

The Minister of Finance and Public Administrations is enabled to dictate, on a proposal from the Rector Council of Regional Incentives, the necessary provisions for the development and implementation of this royal decree.

Final disposition second. Entry into force.

This royal decree will enter into force on the day following its publication in the "Official State Gazette".

Given in Madrid, on April 24, 2015.

FELIPE R.

The Minister of Finance and Public Administrations,

CRISTOBAL MONTORO ROMERO