4.
COMPETITION POLICY
1.
Treaty establishing the European Community, Title VI, Chapter 1,
Rules on Competition.
(a) Notwithstanding Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty and provided
that the conditions set out below are fulfilled, Slovakia may apply
until the end of the fiscal year 2008 the corporate income tax
exemption granted on the basis of Government Regulation
No 192/1998 Coll. to one beneficiary in the motor vehicle
industry, provided that the total aid under this tax exemption
does not exceed 30 % of the eligible investment costs of the
relevant project incurred since 1998.
For the purposes of this paragraph, eligible costs shall be defined
on the basis of the Guidelines on national regional aid (
1
).
(b) Slovakia shall supply to the Commission monitoring reports
containing the following information:
— on a half-yearly basis, information on the eligible investment
undertaken by the aid beneficiary, and,
— on an annual basis, information on the aid granted to the aid
beneficiary under the aid scheme referred to above.
Slovakia shall provide the reports within four months of the end of
each half year or year, beginning by the end of April 2003. The
first reports shall include the information relating to the years
1998-2002. The last report shall be submitted by the end of
August 2009, unless agreed otherwise by the Commission and
Slovakia.
(c) Without prejudice to the preceding paragraph, the provisions on
monitoring contained in Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999
laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of
the EC Treaty shall apply.
(d) If the total aid reaches before the end of the fiscal year 2008 the
maximum admissible level set out in paragraph (a), the tax
exemption shall be discontinued and the normal corporate
income tax shall be due by the beneficiary for that part of the
company's earnings whose exemption from the tax would result
in exceeding the maximum admissible level.
2.
Treaty establishing the European Community, Title VI, Chapter 1,
Rules on Competition.
(a) Notwithstanding Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty, Slovakia may
apply until the end of the fiscal year 2009 the corporate income
tax exemption on the basis of Act No 366/1999 Coll. on Income
Tax to one beneficiary in the steel industry, provided that the
following conditions are fulfilled:
(i) the aid beneficiary caps its production of flat products and its
sales of flat products (hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated) in the
enlarged EU. These caps shall be established on the basis of the
figures concerned for the year 2001. As from 2002, the aid
beneficiary may make annual increases of 3% in the cap for
production and 2% in the cap for sales. The cap for sales shall
take effect as from the date of accession. Output of specific
product types may vary on condition that combined output
does not exceed the established caps;
(ii) the beneficiary does not extend its range of groups of finished
products existing on 13 December 2002;
(iii) the total aid granted to the beneficiary on the basis of Act
No 366/1999 Z. z. on Income Tax does not exceed a total
of US $ 500 million. This aid can only be granted once and
may not be extended or renewed under any circumstances. All
aid granted to the same beneficiary during the transitional
period must be included within the level of US $ 500 million.
(iv) the beneficiary meets the terms of the privatisation contract
regarding the maintenance of employment levels.
If the tax concession to the aid beneficiary is adapted in such a way
as to guarantee a significant reduction in the total aid amount while
not jeopardising viability, the Commission may review the above
conditions in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article
88(1) of the EC Treaty. Before beginning this procedure, the
Commission shall take full account of the views of Member
States on whether a reduction of aid is significant. These views
shall be expressed on the basis of a Commission recommendation
and on the basis of available relevant information.
(b) Slovakia shall supply to the Commission and the Council half-
yearly monitoring reports containing the following information as
regards the aid beneficiary:
— production (in tonnes) of each of the following products: hot
rolled coil, cold rolled sheet, galvanised sheet, tinplate, electrical
sheet, organic coated sheet, welded tubes, as well as any other
product (to be specified);
— sales (in tonnes) of the above products in the enlarged EU;
— development of employment in the company and the region as
well as progress in preparations for the orderly outplacement of
staff;
— once a year, the cost of staffing in the year and since privati-
sation;
— once a year, profits before tax for the fiscal year and the
specified total amount of aid.
Slovakia shall provide these reports within four months of the end
of each half year, beginning by the end of April 2003. The first
report shall include the information relating to the years 2000,
2001 and 2002. The last report shall be submitted by the end of
April 2010, unless agreed otherwise by the Commission, the
Council and Slovakia.
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(c) Without prejudice to the preceding paragraph, the provisions on
monitoring as contained in Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999
laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the
EC Treaty shall apply.
(d) If the total aid reaches the maximum admissible level set out in
subparagraph (a)(iii) before the end of the fiscal year 2009, the tax
exemption shall be discontinued and the normal corporate income
tax shall be due by the beneficiary for that part of the company's
earnings whose exemption from the tax would result in exceeding
the maximum admissible level.
(e) If the beneficiary fails to meet the terms of the privatisation
contract regarding the maintenance of employment levels, the aid
shall be discontinued with immediate effect and the penalties
provided for in the privatisation contract shall apply.
(
1
) OJ C 74, 10.3.1998, p. 9.
5.
AGRICULTURE
A. AGRICULTURAL LEGISLATION
32001 R 1260: Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 of 19 June
2001 on the common organisation of the markets in the sugar sector
(OJ L 178, 30.6.2001, p. 1), as amended by:
— 32002 R 0680: Commission Regulation (EC) No 680/2002 of
19.4.2002 (OJ L 104, 20.4.2002, p. 26).
By way of derogation from Article 45 of Regulation (EC)
No 1260/2001 and the corresponding Articles of the other Regulations
on the common organisation of agricultural markets, Slovakia may
until 31 December 2006 continue to grant State aid in order to
ensure the functioning of the warehouse receipt and goods receipt
system laid down in Act No 144/1998 Z. z. on Warehouse Receipt
and Goods Receipt which entered into force on 1 June 1998.
Slovakia shall submit an annual report to the Commission on the
implementation of this State aid measure, indicating the form of the
aid and the amounts.
B. VETERINARY LEGISLATION
31964 L 0433: Council Directive 64/433/EEC on health conditions for
the production and marketing of fresh meat (OJ P 121, 29.7.1964,
p. 2012 and later amended and consolidated in OJ L 268, 29.6.1991,
p. 71), as last amended by:
— 31995 L 0023: Council Directive 95/23/EC of 22.6.1995 (OJ L
243, 11.10.1995, p. 7);
31977 L 0099: Council Directive 77/99/EEC of 21 December 1976 on
health problems affecting the production and marketing of meat
products and certain other products of animal origin (OJ L 26,
31.1.1977, p. 85 and later amended and updated in L 57, 2.3.1992,
p. 4), as last amended by:
— 31997 L 0076: Council Directive 97/76/EC of 16.12.1997 (OJ L
10, 16.1.1998, p. 25);
31991 L 0493: Council Directive 91/493/EEC of 22 July 1991 laying
down the health conditions for the production and the placing on the
market of fishery products (OJ L 268, 24.9.1991, p. 15), as last
amended by:
— 31997 L 0079: Council Directive 97/79/EC of 18.12.1997 (OJ L
24, 30.1.1998, p. 31).
(a) The structural requirements laid down in Annex I to Directive
64/433/EEC, in Annexes A and B to Directive 77/99/EEC and in
the Annex to Directive 91/493/EEC shall not apply to estab-
lishments in Slovakia listed in the Appendix to this Annex until
31 December 2006, subject to the conditions laid down below.
(b) As long as the establishments referred to in paragraph (a) above
benefit from the provisions of that paragraph, products originating
from those establishments shall only be placed on the domestic
market or used for further processing in the same establishment,
irrespective of the date of marketing. These products must bear a
special health/identification mark.
The previous subparagraph also applies to all products originating
from integrated meat establishments where a part of the estab-
lishment is subject to the provisions of paragraph (a).
(c) Slovakia shall ensure gradual compliance with the structural
requirements referred to in paragraph (a) in accordance with the
deadlines for correcting existing shortcomings set out in the
Appendix to this Annex. Slovakia shall ensure that only those
establishments which fully comply with these requirements by
31 December 2006 may continue to operate. Slovakia shall
submit annual reports to the Commission on progress made in
each of the establishments listed in the Appendix, including a list
of the establishments which have corrected the existing short-
comings during the year in question.
(d) The Commission may update the Appendix to this Annex before
accession and until 31 December 2006, and in this context may
add to a limited extent or delete individual establishments, in the
light of progress made in the correction of existing shortcomings
and the outcome of the monitoring process.
Detailed implementing rules to ensure the smooth operation of the
above transitional regime shall be adopted in accordance with Article
16 of Directive 64/433/EEC, Article 20 of Directive 77/99/EEC and
Article 15 of Directive 91/493/EEC.
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