TRAINING AID AND AID FOR DISADVANTAGED WORKERS AND FOR WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES Stephen Moore European Support Unit

Objectives 1.Explain when aid for training is State aid 2.Highlight changes to the GBER 3.Provide overview of aid for disadvantaged workers and workers with disabilities

What is State aid? Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Article 107(1) “Save as otherwise provided in this Treaty, any aid granted by a Member State, or through State resources in any form whatsoever, which distorts, or threatens to distort competition, by favouring certain undertakings or production of certain goods, shall, in so far as it affects trade between Member States, be incompatible with the common market.”

When is training State aid? COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 68/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to training aid (6) For reasons of transparency it should be underlined that this Regulation should only apply to training measures which constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the Treaty. Many training measures are not caught by that Article, but constitute general measures because they are open to all enterprises in all sectors without discrimination and without discretionary power for the authorities applying the measure, e.g. general tax incentive schemes, such as automatic tax credits, open to all firms investing in employee training. Other training measures do not fall within the scope of Article 87(1) of the Treaty because they directly benefit people everywhere and do not grant an advantage to certain enterprises or sectors. Examples are: schooling and initial training (such as apprenticeships and day- release schemes); the training or re-training of unemployed people, including traineeships in enterprises; measures directly targeted at workers or even at certain categories of workers, affording them the opportunity of receiving training unconnected with the firm or industry in which they work (for example the ‘learning account’).

Key training State aid questions 1.Does the aid directly benefit people everywhere? 2.Is the aid for schooling or initial training (such as apprenticeships and day-release schemes)? 3.Is the aid for training or re-training of unemployed people, including traineeships in enterprises? 4.Is the aid targeted at workers or even at certain categories of workers, affording them the opportunity of receiving training unconnected with the firm or industry in which they work? 5.Is there certainty the aid does not grant an advantage to certain enterprises or sectors?

GBER Training aid Article 31 in the GBER No longer a distinction between general and specific training No aid allowed for training to comply with national mandatory standards on training. Eligible costs – trainers’ costs, trainers’ and trainees’ operating costs, costs of advisory services, trainees’ personnel costs and general indirect costs Aid intensity – up to 50% 10 – 20% bonuses for SMEs and workers with disabilities or disadvantaged workers Notification threshold - EUR 2 million per training project

Aid for the recruitment of disadvantaged workers Definitions - Disadvantaged worker, GBER Article 2(4). Severely disadvantaged worker, GBER Article 2(99) GBER Article 32 details eligible costs and max aid intensity Eligible costs – disadvantaged worker, wage costs over a maximum period of 12 months. Severely disadvantaged worker, wage costs over a maximum period of 24 months. Aid intensity – up to 50% of eligible costs. But, no net increase in employment and cannot be used to fill posts made vacant by redundancy Notification threshold - EUR 5 million per undertaking, per year.

Aid for the employment of workers with disabilities Worker with disabilities is not defined in the GBER GBER Article 32 details eligible costs and max aid intensity Eligible costs – wage costs over any given period during which the worker with disabilities is employed. Aid intensity – up to 75% of eligible costs. But, no net increase in employment and cannot be used to fill posts made vacant by redundancy Notification threshold - EUR 10 million per undertaking, per year.

Aid for the additional costs of employing disadvantaged and disabled workers GBER Article 34 - Aid for compensating the additional costs of employing workers with disabilities: up to EUR 10 million per undertaking, per year GBER Article 35 - Aid for compensating the costs of assistance provided to disadvantaged workers: up to EUR 5 million per undertaking, per year

COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 General Block Exemption Regulation

Further Information DETI European Support Unit Stephen Moore Tel: