Commission Regulation (EU) No 702/20142 applies until 31 December 2020.

On 8 September 2018, the Commission launched a review of Regulation (EU) No 702/2014, with a view to replacing it with a new regulation for the period 2021 to 2027. However, the development of the common agricultural policy (CAP) should be taken into account when drafting that new regulation. Of particular relevance is the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the CAP3, which provides for the implementation of the CAP strategic plans by Member States as from 1 January 2021.

However, the legislative procedure concerning the CAP reform is still ongoing and the legal framework, including the ensuing delegated and implementing acts, will not be adopted for yet some time.

To ensure that the Member States may continue having their State aid schemes exempted in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 702/2014 and to allow the review of that Regulation to be completed following the adoption of the CAP reform, it is appropriate to extend the period of application of Regulation (EU) No 702/2014 until 31 December 2022.

Commission Regulations (EU) No 717/20144 and (EU) No 1388/20145 are also applicable until 31 December 2020.

On 29 April 2019 and on 2 May 2019, the Commission launched a review, respectively, of Regulations (EU) No 717/2014 and (EU) No 1388/2014, with the view to replacing them with new regulations for the period 2021 to 2027. Those regulations should remain coherent and consistent with other rules relevant for the assessment of State aid in the fishery and aquaculture sector, in particular with the Regulation on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)6. Of particular relevance is the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the EMFF, which provides for the establishment of the EMFF as from 1 January 20217. However, the legislative procedure concerning the EMFF reform is still ongoing. To ensure that the Member States may continue granting small amounts of aid in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 717/2014 and having their State aid schemes exempted in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1388/2014, and to allow the review of those Regulations to be completed following the adoption of the EMFF reform, it is appropriate to extend the period of application of Regulations (EU) No 717/2014 and (EU) No 1388/2014 until 31 December 2022.

In the light of the extension of the periods of application of Regulations (EU) No 702/2014 and (EU) No 1388/2014, some Member States may wish to prolong measures on which summary information has been provided in accordance with those Regulations. In order to reduce the administrative burden, summary information regarding the prolongation of those measures, including a potential budget increase, should be deemed to have been communicated to the Commission and published, provided that no substantive amendment is made to the measures concerned.

Regulations (EU) No 702/2014 and (EU) No 1388/2014 should also be adapted to take into account the economic and financial consequences that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on undertakings and to ensure consistency with the general policy response adopted by the Commission, especially in the period 2020-2021. In particular, undertakings that were not in difficulty on 31 December 2019 but became undertakings in difficulty in the period from 1 January 2020 until 30 June 2021 should remain eligible for aid under those Regulations.

Article 1 and Articles 13 to 43 of Regulation (EU) No 1388/2014 include references to the EMFF Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 in order to define ineligible operations and the conditions for the granting of aid under those provisions. In order to ensure legal certainty during the period of prolongation of Regulation (EU) No 1388/2014, those references should be understood as referring to Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 in the version applicable on 31 December 2020, regardless of whether that Regulation is repealed.

Regulations (EU) No 702/2014, (EU) No 717/2014 and (EU) No 1388/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly.

In order to ensure continuity for existing aid under Regulations (EU) No 702/2014, (EU) No 717/2014 and (EU) No 1388/2014 and to enable undertakings that became undertakings in difficulty on or after 1 January 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic to be eligible for aid from 1 January 2020, this Regulation should enter into force as soon as possible after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,