What does de minimis aid mean?
De minimis aid refers to public funding granted to companies, governed by the Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013. The aid may consist of funding or other benefits, such as tax relief, interest rate subsidies, partially or completely free training, or other service offered to a limited group of companies.
Which parties in Finland grant de minimis aid?
In addition to Business Finland, parties such as municipalities, regional councils, ministries, Finnvera, and ELY Centers grant de minimis aid in Finland. Each organization granting aid states the amount of de minimis aid in its decision.
Notification requirement of a company
The company itself must monitor the amount of the de minimis aid it receives and report it when applying for new aid, so that the total amount of de minimis aid granted by different authorities does not exceed the maximum permissible sum of aid during the current and two previous fiscal years.
What is the maximum amount of de minimis aid and how is it calculated?
According to the EU Regulation, the maximum permissible sum of the de minimis aid to a company is 200,000 euros over the current and two previous fiscal years. The maximum amount of de minimis aid to a company operating in the field of road transport is EUR 100,000. The aid granted in each year is included, meaning the time when the company was granted the legal right to aid. The time when the aid was applied for or when it was paid is not relevant.
At the group level, a parent company and its subsidiary operating in the same Member State, and the companies in the same control, are treated as a single company, and the amounts of aid they receive are added together.
The company must report the de minimis aid it has received previously in the funding application. If the company has not received any aid, the sum of aid is reported as 0 euros.
Which of Business Finland's funding services constitute de minimis aid?
Out of the funding services of Business Finland, the following constitute de minimis aid:
- Tempo
- Exhibition Explorer
- Group Explorer
- Market Explorer
- Talent Explorer
- Innovation voucher
- Talent funding
For which purposes de minimis aid cannot be granted?
De minimis aid cannot be granted to primary agricultural production, fishery or aquaculture. These fields have their own forms of aid. The de minimis regulation also prohibits export aid and aid to the establishment of a distribution network.
More information about de minimis aid
Read more about de minimis aid in the guide published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (in Finnish).