• De minimis aid is a form of support for companies that does not require notification to the European Commission.
• In 2017, PLN 6.74 billion of de minimis aid was granted, 95% of which went to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. In 2018, it was PLN 5.85 billion.
• The greatest financial support was provided by district heads (also known as “starost”).

De minimis aid is a form of support granted to entrepreneurs that does not require notification to the European Commission. In accordance with the principle of Roman law saying de minimis non curat lex (the law does not govern trifles, the law ignores insignificant details), small amounts of aid are unlikely to distort competition. However, the total value of de minimis aid for one beneficiary cannot exceed EUR 200,000 over three consecutive fiscal years. For freight transport the de minimis ceiling is EUR 100,000, while the total amount of de minimis aid granted to an organisation providing services of general economic interest cannot exceed EUR 500,000.

Due to the aid ceiling and simple rules of granting, typically this form of support is provided to micro-, small- and medium-sized companies. This type of aid may also be a cash injection for science, technology and research parks, universities, foundations. The money can be spent on development, employment of new employees, courses, trainings, or tax reliefs, such as remission of part of the real estate tax. It is all about stimulating the SME sector development, says Marek Niechciał, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

In 2017, PLN 6.74 billion went to various entities as part of de minimis aid (compared to PLN 5.27 billion in 2016). The greatest financial support was provided by district heads (PLN 2.15 billion), followed by commune heads, mayors and city presidents (PLN 1 billion), and province marshals (PLN 847.7 million). Microcompanies received most of the funds (PLN 4.47 billion). Small companies got PLN 1.35 billion, medium ones – PLN 618 million, and large ones – PLN 308 million. We already know the preliminary data for 2018, when de minimis aid amounted to PLN 5.85 billion.

Competences of the President of UOKiK

Are you an entrepreneur? Do you want to find out if you can apply for de minimis support? Go to https://sudop.uokik.gov.pl/ and search for your company in a special database. You will know whether you have received de minimis aid in the last three years and in what amount. De minimis aid for agriculture is monitored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The draft of the project which provides for de minimis aid must be notified to the office. After the analysis, the President of UOKiK expresses his potential reservations.

Additional information for the media:

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