De minimis aid is an attractive instrument of state aid for enterprises, although it is of a relatively low value. Thanks to this, it does not affect competitiveness and does not affect trade between member states - the name comes from the Roman principle "de minimis non curat lex", i.e.: "the law does not concern itself with trifles"
Most entrepreneurs know and willingly use this form of aid in various ways, e.g. through support for:
- investments;
- loans and preferential credits;
- credit guarantees;
- ZUS interest redemption;
- tax exemptions;
- one-time depreciation;
- training.
Current and new rules for granting aid
By the end of 2023, the maximum amount of de minimis aid granted was 200 thousand EUR for one entrepreneur over a period of 3 years (Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid).
On 1 January 2024, Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 of 13 December 2023 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to
de minimis aid entered into force, which introduced significant changes in the granting of this type of aid.
The most important changes include:
- increasing the limit of de minimis aid for one entrepreneur to 300 thousand EUR over a period of 3 years;
- abolition of the separate de minimis aid limit for enterprises operating in the field of road freight transport (from 100 thousand to 300 thousand EUR);
- changing the method of calculating the 3-year period when adding up the de minimis aid granted; previously it was the current tax year and 2 previous tax years, currently it is the period of the past 3 years (3 x 365 days);
- introducing the possibility of providing aid to entrepreneurs operating in the sector of processing and selling fishery and aquaculture products (provided that the amount of aid is not determined on the basis of the price or quantity of products purchased or placed on the market).
Important!
It is worth noting that an entrepreneur benefiting from de minimis aid is bound by the conditions established on the day the support is granted, i.e. at the time of acquiring the right to aid (Article 2, point 11 of the Act on proceedings in matters relating to state aid). This means that if the entrepreneur acquired the right to aid before 31 December 2023 under the conditions specified in Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013, these conditions will apply throughout the entire period of receiving the aid. Regardless of the fact that a new regulation of the European Commission with amended conditions enters into force on 1 January 2024, the previously agreed conditions will remain in force.
For individual aid provided under programs with a 6-month transition period, the pre-2024 rules may apply until 30 June 2024.
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