Revised Decision on the Cooperative Pooling of Regional Resources
Revised decision on the ‘Cooperative Pooling of Regional Resources’ under the ‘Sterker in 3D’ Regio Deal Grant Scheme’
2025/0308 5444978
Dear ,
You have submitted a grant application for the project ‘Cooperative Pooling of Regional Resources’. The closing date was 1 November 2024. You submitted this application for a grant under the ‘Stronger in 3D’ Regio Deal Grant Scheme (hereinafter: the Grant Scheme).
In a letter dated 24 January 2025, you received our decision on your grant application. As we are required to submit a state aid notification, it is important that you receive a revised decision. This letter sets out our revised decision. You have also received a letter from us regarding state aid. Below you will find the original text of the decision of 24 January 2025 and the section relating to state aid combined. This is our revised decision.
We have decided to award you a grant
We are delighted to inform you that we are awarding a grant of up to €273,600, excluding VAT, for this project. The grant is intended to fund the activities and deliverables described in your project plan, as submitted by you on 30 October 2024. The grant will be paid into your account number
The process by which we reached our decision is set out in the annex. This annex forms part of this decision. It also sets out the purpose for which we are awarding you the grant and, in broad terms, what we expect from you.
Important to know
Our decision has been taken on the basis of a number of statutory provisions and agreements we have entered into with various parties regarding (the implementation of) the ‘Sterker in 3D’ Stedendriehoek Regional Deal. The statutory provisions can be found in the appendix. The assessment of your application was entrusted to an independent advisory committee. We believe that this committee’s advice was arrived at with due care and can endorse its conclusions. We have therefore acted in accordance with this advice.
This means that if there is any change to your project that could affect the grant, you must therefore notify us of this change. Please refer to the appendix for details of when and how to do this.
Upon receipt of this decision, you will also receive a covering letter from the Regio Deal programme team. This letter will contain further details regarding an explanatory meeting that will be arranged.
Attachment(s):
When replying, please quote the date and reference number of this letter
information about a kick-off meeting for lead organisations and the procedure regarding co-funding by the provinces.
This constitutes state aid, but it is permissible
State aid is the direct or indirect provision of financial support to businesses by public authorities. In principle, this is prohibited and must be notified to the European Commission for approval. There are a number of exemptions which make it possible to provide financial support without notifying the European Commission. In the case of your project, it has become apparent that the granting of a subsidy would constitute state aid. However, this is permitted under an exemption regulation.
Grant awarded in accordance with the AGVV
With regard to the activities in your application relating to innovation clusters, we have concluded, on the basis of your application, that the grant may be awarded pursuant to Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of the Commission of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (OJ EU, L 187/1), as amended on several occasions since 2014, most recently by Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1315 of 23 June 2023 (OJ EU 2023, L167/1, hereinafter referred to as the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). This concerns the application of Article 27 of the GBER. You will find the text of this article attached to this letter.
This Article declares aid for innovation clusters to be compatible with the internal market and is therefore exempt from the notification requirement laid down in Article 108(3) TFEU, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article, as well as those set out in Chapter I of the AGVV, are met.
We notify the European Commission of summary information regarding the granting of subsidies in accordance with Article 9(1) of the AGVV. This is distinct from the notification referred to above.
What does this mean for your project?
You may carry out the activities as set out in your application. However, you must ensure that you continue to comply with the conditions set out in the AGVV throughout the project. You should also bear in mind that the European Commission may carry out checks for a period of ten years following the award of your grant. We recommend that you retain the relevant documents relating to this grant for the duration of that period.
Do you have any questions? Please contact the Regio Deal programme team by sending an email to regiodealS3D@regiostedendriehoek.nl.
Do you disagree?
If you do not agree with the content of this decision, you may lodge an objection within 6 weeks of the date on which the decision was sent. You can do this online using the form at www.apeldoorn.nl/bezwaarschrift or to this postal address:
Municipality of Apeldoorn
Attn: Legal Affairs Department
PO Box 9033
7300 ES Apeldoorn
For more information on the appeals procedure, please visit: www.apeldoorn.nl/bezwaarschrift.
We wish you every success in carrying out these activities.
Kind regards,
On behalf of the Mayor and Aldermen,