[ad_1]
The European Commission concluded this Friday that the Madeira Free Zone (ZFM) regime violated state aid rules, since it covered companies that did not contribute to the development of the region, and Portugal should recover the support provided irregularly.
After an in-depth investigation started already in 2018, the community executive announced this Friday that it concluded that “the implementation of Regime III of the Madeira Free Trade Zone in Portugal does not comply with the Commission’s state aid decisions”, because “the The objective of the approved measure was to contribute to the development of the outermost region of Madeira through tax incentives ”, aimed exclusively at companies that create jobs in the region, which it concluded did not happen.
Underlining that it does not question the situation of the outermost region of Madeira or its eligibility for regional aid, the European Commission notes that its investigation “revealed that the tax cuts were applied to companies that did not represent any added value for the development of the region” , having previously created jobs outside Madeira “and even outside the EU”, without taking into account the conditions of European decisions and rules on state aid.
Therefore, Portugal must now recover all “undue aid, plus interest, from these companies”, determined the Commission, which does not quantify the amounts in question, explaining that it is a complex exercise, thus doubling the calculation period of the State. and recover undue support.
Stating that it is “fully aware of the specific circumstances in which the Madeira Free Zone operates”, the Commission underlines that it has therefore decided to grant Portugal a period of eight months to implement the decision to recover the aid, instead the usual four-month period.
It is now up to Portugal to determine the amount to be recovered from each individual beneficiary, in accordance with the methodology established in the Commission decision adopted today. Portugal must identify, among the beneficiaries, those who did not respect the conditions established in the State aid decisions. 2007 and 2013, which approved regime III [da ZFM]In other words, job creation in the region and the link between benefits and an effective and material activity carried out in Madeira.
Therefore, the final elements on the number of companies subject to recovery and on the total amount of aid to be recovered cannot be known at this stage ”, explains the community executive, and also points out that during the period of validity of this regime III in an amount greater than 200 thousand euros.
Commenting on this issue during the Commission’s daily press conference, the Competition spokesperson insisted that it is too early to determine how many companies and what the amounts are, but to give a “general” and “merely indicative” idea, she said. . that there are approximately 1,700 registered companies that benefited from regime III of the ZFM between 2007 and 2013, the community executive believing that “only 300 of them benefited from support exceeding 200 thousand euros”
“Among these 300 companies, it is now up to Portugal to check the compatibility of the aid,” he said.
For her part, in a statement released by the Commission, the executive vice president of the competition policy portfolio highlighted that Brussels “approved support for the ZFM, allowing tax exemptions to be granted to companies that contribute to job creation and economic activity. real in the region ”, precisely because it considers that, given its condition as an outermost region, Madeira faces“ specific challenges and, therefore, should benefit from particularly flexible state aid rules to support its economic development ”.
“However, the plan was not implemented in accordance with these fundamental compatibility conditions. This constitutes a violation of the EU state aid rules and therefore Portugal will now have to recover aid from relevant companies that did not create economic activity”. no real jobs in Madeira, “said Margrethe Vestager.
Between 1987 (the year in which the free zone was created) and 2014, the European Commission approved several versions of the aid scheme for ZFM, under the Community provisions that regulate this type of aid.
In the regime that was approved in 2007 (known as Regime III), for the period between 2007 and 2013, it was decided that companies registered before December 31, 2013 could benefit from the tax advantages of the ZFM until the end of 2020 .
The aid scheme approved for the ZNF was aimed at attracting investment and creating jobs in the region and is reflected, in particular, in the granting of reductions in Corporation Tax (IRC) with an impact on the benefits derived from the activities developed in the Madera.
Other advantages contemplated are the reductions of the Stamp Tax and the exemptions from the property transfer tax for the acquisition of real estate for the establishment of companies in the ZFM.
