1. The guidelines of the Land of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for the granting of aid in respect of the sale and export of products from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (hereinafter referred to as the "Land guidelines") constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty. In so far as they fall within the scope of Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty, they constitute unlawful aid.
2. The Land guidelines do not constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty in so far as they satisfy the conditions laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 69/2001.
Consequently, subprogrammes A ("Market-launch activities") and B ("Participation in fairs and exhibitions in Germany and abroad") do not constitute State aid.
3. The Land guidelines constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty in so far as they grant assistance that does not fall within the scope of Commission Regulation (EC) No 69/2001.
Consequently, subprogrammes C ("Offices shared abroad") and D ("Foreign trade assistants") constitute State aid in so far as they are caught by paragraph 4.
4. The Land Guidelines do not constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty in so far as they provide for the granting of aid in respect of export measures to countries other than those in the Community and the European Economic Area and those that have the official status of candidates for accession to the European Union.
In so far as the Land guidelines provide for the granting of aid in respect of measures to promote exports within the Community, the European Economic Area and countries that have the official status of candidates for accession to the European Union, they are incompatible with the common market under Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty.
Germany shall take all necessary measures to recover from the recipients the aid referred to in Article 2 and unlawfully made available to the recipients.
Recovery shall be effected without delay and in accordance with the procedures of national law provided that they allow the immediate and effective execution of the Decision. The aid to be recovered shall include interest from the date on which it was made available to the recipients 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.
Germany shall present the Commission with a list of enterprises that have received aid within the meaning of Article 2 of this Decision.
Germany shall inform the Commission, within two months of notification of this Decision, of the measures taken to comply with it.
This Decision is addressed to the Federal Republic of Germany.
Done at Brussels, 5 March 2003.
For the Commission
Mario Monti
Member of the Commission
(1) OJ C 170, 16.7.2002, p. 2.
(2) OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 30.
(3) OJ C 68, 6.3.1996, p. 9.
(4) OJ L 107, 30.4.1996, p. 4.
(5) Export aid is defined as aid directly linked to the quantities exported, to the establishment and operation of a distribution network or to current expenditure linked to the export activity (Article 1(b) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 69/2001 and footnote 3 to the notice on the de minimis rule).
(6) Recital 4 to Commission Regulation (EC) No 69/2001 and footnote 3 to the notice on the de minimis rule.
(7) OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 33.
(8) OJ C 74, 10.3.1998, p. 9.
(9) Germany has indicated that, under that subprogramme, each enterprise received an average of EUR 11128 in the period 1998 to 2002.
(10) Germany has indicated that, under that subprogramme, each enterprise received an average of EUR 1830 in the period 1998 to 2002.
(11) Germany has indicated that, under that subprogramme, each enterprise received an average of EUR 18853 in the period 1998 to 2002.
(12) Germany has indicated that, under that subprogramme, each enterprise received an average of EUR 10018 in the period 1998 to 2002.
(13) OJ C 213, 19.8.1992, p. 2.
(14) OJ C 68, 6.3.1996, p. 9.
(15) See, in particular, the judgment in "Tubemeuse" (Case C-142/87, Belgium v Commission [1990] ECR 1-959, paragraphs 31 to 44).
(16) The candidate countries are currently the following 13 countries whose applications for accession to the European Union have been accepted by the European Council: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey.
(17) "Third countries" is used below to mean countries other than those in the Community and the EEA and those that have the official status of candidates for accession to the European Union.
(18) Regarding aid for initial investment within the meaning of point 4.4 of the regional guidelines, the Commission has previously authorised a German and an Austrian aid scheme which covered only SMEs that were operating in countries that at that time were neither EU Member States, nor EEA member countries, nor countries that have the official status of candidates for accession to the European Union (Commission Decision 97/257/EC, State aid C 49/95 - Germany (OJ L 102, 19.4.1997, p. 36) and Commission Decision 97/241/EC, State aid C 50/95 - Austria (OJ L 96, 11.4.1997, p. 23)).
(19) OJ L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 1.
