Transparency of aid
Article 5
1. This Regulation shall apply only to transparent aid. 2. Aid shall be considered to be transparent if it is possible to calculate precisely the gross grant equivalent ex ante without need to undertake a risk assessment. 3. For the purpose of this Regulation, the following forms of aid shall be considered to be transparent aid: (a) aid comprised in grants, interest rate subsidies and subsidised services; (b) aid comprised in loans, where the gross grant equivalent has been calculated on the basis of the reference rate prevailing at the time of the grant; (c) aid comprised in guarantees where one of the following applies: (i) the gross grant equivalent has been calculated on the basis of safe-harbour premiums laid down in a Commission notice; (ii) before the implementation of the aid, the methodology to calculate the gross grant equivalent of the guarantee has been accepted on the basis of the Notice on Guarantees, following notification of that methodology to the Commission under any State aid regulation adopted by the Commission applicable at the time, and the approved methodology explicitly addresses the type of guarantee and the type of underlying transaction at stake in the context of the application of this Regulation; (d) aid in the form of tax advantages, where the measure provides for a cap ensuring that the applicable threshold is not exceeded; (e) aid in the form of repayable advances, if the total nominal amount of the repayable advance does not exceed the thresholds applicable under this Regulation or if, before implementation of the measure, the methodology to calculate the gross grant equivalent of the repayable advance has been accepted following its notification to the Commission; (f) aid in the form of the sale or the lease of tangible assets below market rates where the value is established either by an independent expert evaluation prior to the transaction or by reference to a publicly available, regularly updated and generally accepted benchmark. 4. For the purpose of this Regulation, the following forms of aid shall not be considered to be transparent aid: (a) aid comprised in capital injections; (b) aid comprised in risk finance measures.