Answer to a written question – Lowering of the reporting threshold for beneficiaries active in primary agricultural production to EUR 10 000 per calendar year – E-001598/2025(ASW)

As regards individual aid awards, the publication thresholds for beneficiaries of state aid active in the primary agricultural production were modified as part of the general revision of the transparency rules. This revision concerned state aid in all sectors.

The fitness check preceding the revision showed that only around 20-25% of state aid awards were subject to a publication obligation under the previous transparency rules[1] (which set the publication threshold at EUR 60 000 for the primary agricultural sector).

In certain Member States with limited state aid spending capacity, this reporting was limited to only a very small fraction of the state aid granted.

The low proportion of individual aid awards that were published undermined the transparency objective. Hence, the threshold for publication was lowered to EUR 10 000 for the primary agricultural sector[2].

The choice of the modalities of implementation of the transparency requirements, such as by means of a multi-page tax declaration mentioned in the question, remains at the discretion of the Member States.

The thresholds for publishing individual aid awards were modified across sectors following the assessment of their appropriateness to achieve the relevant transparency objectives and are currently considered as fit for the purpose.

• [1]  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.C_.2014.204.01.0001.01.ENG&toc=OJ%3AC%3A2014%3A204%3AFULL and https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2014/702/oj/eng#:~:text=ELI%3A%20http%3A%2F%2Fdata.europa.eu%2Feli%2Freg%2F2014%2F702%2Foj%20of%2025%20June%202014%20declaring%20certain,Treaty%20on%20the%20Functioning%20of%20the%20European%20Union.
• [2]  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C:2022:485:TOC and https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2022:327:TOC.