As a general rule state aid is not given under the North Sea Region Programme. This implies that the activities of a project do not distort competition i.e. give the beneficiaries an unfair competitive advantage. This is the case whether or not the beneficiaries are operating on an open market.

Relevant for both Public and Private
The rules on state aid affect both private and public organisations. It is therefore irrelevant whether a particular organisation from a legal perspective is a private or a public body, in either case the state aid rules must be respected.

Beneficiaries in projects under the North Sea Region Programme must:
• Act as a non-profit organisation in the context of the project i.e. the project activities must be of a non-commercial nature,
• Make all project results available to the general public free of charge,
• Make sure that project activities are carried out in line with the principle of real costs,
• Adhere to the rules of public procurement/public tender.

Separate commercial and non-commercial activities
If a beneficiary e.g. a university is engaged in both commercial and non-commercial activities as defined in section 3 of the “Community Framework for State Aid for Research and Development and Innovation (EC Regulation 2006/C 323/01)” the non-commercial activities must be clearly separated from other activities e.g. as part of the annual statement of accounts.

Background to current situation
The rules on state aid have been in force for several years, specifically in the current structural funds period 2007-2013 increasing emphasis has been put on a stricter interpretation of the rules on state aid. This impacts directly on the North Sea Region Programme and the projects under the Programme.

The advice given in this note represents the current situation and may be subject to change. It is not anticipated that such changes will have any major impact on the projects involved.