State aid
Article 23
1. For the agricultural products covered by Annex I to the Treaty, to which Articles 107, 108 and 109 thereof apply, the Commission may authorise, in accordance with Article 108 of the Treaty, operating aid in the sectors producing, processing and marketing those products, with a view to alleviating the specific constraints on farming in the outermost regions as a result of their isolation, insularity and extreme remoteness. 2. Member States may grant additional financing for the implementation of POSEI programmes. In such cases, the Member States shall notify the Commission of the State aid and the Commission may approve it in accordance with this Regulation as part of those programmes. Aid thus notified shall be regarded as notified within the meaning of the first sentence of Article 108(3) of the Treaty. 3. France may grant the sugar sector in the French outermost regions aid of up to EUR 90 million per marketing year. France shall inform the Commission within 30 days of the end of each marketing year of the amount of aid actually granted. 4. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article and by way of derogation from the first subparagraph of Article 180 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 and Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1184/2006 of 24 July 2006 applying certain rules of competition to the production of, and trade in, agricultural products ( 12 ) , Articles 107, 108 and 109 of the Treaty shall not apply to payments made under Chapter IV of this Regulation, paragraph 3 of this Article and Articles 24 and 28 of this Regulation by Member States in conformity with this Regulation.