2003/442/EC: Commission Decision of 11 December 2002 on the part of the scheme adapting the national tax system to the specific characteristics of the Autonomous Region of the Azores which concerns reductions in the rates of income and corporation tax (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2002) 4487)
Data as of 2026-07-04 · Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
The part of the scheme adapting the national tax system to the specific characteristics of the Autonomous Region of the Azores which concerns reductions in the rates of income and corporation tax, implemented on the basis of Articles 4 and 5 of Regional Legislative Decree No 2/99/A of 20 January 1999, is compatible with the common market, subject to the provisions of Article 2.
The part of the aid scheme referred to in Article 1 is incompatible with the common market in so far as it applies to firms that carry on financial activities covered by section J (codes 65, 66 and 67) of the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 1.1), and to firms that carry on activities covered by section K, code 74, of that classification, the economic basis of which is to provide services to other firms belonging to the same group, as coordination, financial or distribution centres.
1. Portugal shall take all necessary measures to recover from the firms that carry on the activities referred to in Article 2 the aid made available under the part of the aid scheme referred to in Article 1. 2. Recovery shall be effected without delay and in accordance with the procedures of national law, provided that they allow the immediate and effective implementation of the Decision. The aid to be recovered shall include interest from the date on which it was placed at the disposal of the beneficiaries until the date of its recovery. Interest shall be calculated on the basis of the reference rate used for calculating the grant equivalent of regional aid.
Portugal shall inform the Commission, within two months following notification of this Decision, of the measures taken to comply with it.
This Decision is addressed to the Portuguese Republic. Done at Brussels, 11 December 2002. For the Commission Mario Monti Member of the Commission (1) OJ C 127, 29.5.2002, p. 16. (2) See footnote 1. (3) OJ C 74, 10.3.1998, p. 9 and OJ C 258, 9.9.2000, p. 5. (4) OJ C 384, 10.12.1998, p. 3. (5) See in particular the judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-248/84 Germany v Commission (1987) ECR 4013. (6) With the exception, however, of aid awarded under the conditions laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 69/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to de minimis aid (OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 30). (7) See in particular the judgments of the Court of Justice in Case C-102/87 France v Commission (1988) ECR 4067, Case C-142/87 Belgium v Commission (1990) ECR I-959 and Joined Cases C-278/92, C-279/92 and C-280/92 Spain v Commission (1994) ECR I-4103. (8) See in particular Commission decisions on State aid Cases C-55/01 (insurance companies specific to the Åland Islands, OJ C 309, 6.11.2001, p. 4) and C-52/01 (Gibraltar eligible firms scheme, OJ C 26, 30.1.2002, p. 9), and Commission Decision 93/337/EEC of 10 May 1993 on tax concessions for investment in the Basque Country (OJ L 134, 3.6.1993, p. 25). (9) Conclusions of Mr Advocate General Saggio in Joined Cases C-400/97, C-401/97 and C-402/97 (2000) ECR I-1073. (10) See in particular, in the case of measures adopted by central authorities, the Commission Decision of 21 May 1997, aid N 847/96, on the creation of priority outermost regions and measures on improved economic access in the French Overseas Territories (OJ C 245, 12.8.1997), the Commission Decision of 16 December 1997, aid N 144/A/96, on the scheme of regional aid to investment and operating aid which amends the economic and tax system of the Canary Islands (OJ C 65, 28.2.1998) and Commission Decision 2002/780/EC of 28 February 2001 on the aid scheme "Investment allowance 1999", which Germany is planning to implement for certain undertakings in the new Länder, including Berlin (OJ L 282, 19.10.2002, p. 15). See also Commission Decision 98/476/EC of 21 January 1998 on tax concessions granted under Article 52(8) of the German Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz) (OJ L 212, 30.7.1998, p. 50), on which the Court of Justice delivered judgment on 19 September 2000 in Case C-156/98 Germany v Commission (2000) ECR I-6857. (11) Case 173/73 Italy v Commission (1974) ECR 713, Case 323/82 Intermills v Commission (1984) ECR 3809 and Case C-248/84 Germany v Commission, op. cit. (12) See in particular aid N 143/93, tax measures in favour of the free zones of Madeira and Santa Maria. (13) See in this respect the judgment of the Court in Joined Cases T-127/99, T-129/99 and T-148/99 Territorio Histórico de Álava and Others v Commission (2002) ECR II-1275, at paragraph 237. (14) See in particular the Decisions of 20 December 2001, Cases C-58/2000, C-59/2000 and C-60/2000, tax concessions in the form of exemption from corporation tax for certain firms recently set up in the province of Álava. (15) Commission Regulation (EC) No 29/2002 of 19 December 2001 amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 on the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (OJ L 6, 10.1.2002, p. 3). (16) OJ L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 1.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.