Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (Text with EEA relevance)Text with EEA relevance

‘regional investment aid’ means regional aid granted for an initial investment or an initial investment in favour of a new economic activity;

‘regional operating aid’ means aid to reduce an undertaking's current expenditure, including categories such as personnel costs, materials, contracted services, communications, energy, maintenance, rent, administration, but excluding depreciation charges and the costs of financing related to an investment that benefited from investment aid;

‘steel sector’ means the production of one or more of the following:

1. pig iron and ferro-alloys:

   • pig iron for steelmaking, foundry and other pig iron, spiegeleisen and high-carbon ferro-manganese, not including other ferro-alloys;

2. crude and semi-finished products of iron, ordinary steel or special steel:

   • liquid steel cast or not cast into ingots, including ingots for forging semi-finished products: blooms, billets and slabs; sheet bars and tinplate bars; hot-rolled wide coils, with the exception of production of liquid steel for castings from small and medium-sized foundries;

3. hot finished products of iron, ordinary steel or special steel:

   • rails, sleepers, fishplates, soleplates, joists, heavy sections of 80 mm and over, sheet piling, bars and sections of less than 80 mm and flats of less than 150 mm, wire rod, tube rounds and squares, hot-rolled hoop and strip (including tube strip), hot-rolled sheet (coated or uncoated), plates and sheets of 3 mm thickness and over, universal plates of 150 mm and over, with the exception of wire and wire products, bright bars and iron castings;

4. cold finished products:

   • tinplate, terneplate, blackplate, galvanised sheets, other coated sheets, cold-rolled sheets, electrical sheets and strip for tinplate, cold-rolled plate, in coil and in strip;

5. tubes:

   • all seamless steel tubes, welded steel tubes with a diameter of over 406.4 mm;

‘lignite’ means low-rank C or ortho-lignite and low-rank B or meta-lignite as defined by the international codification system for coal established by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe;

‘transport sector’ means the transport of passengers by aircraft, maritime transport, road or rail and by inland waterway or freight transport services for hire or reward; more specifically, the ‘transport sector’ means the following activities in terms of the statistical classification of economic activities (NACE Rev. 2), established by Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁸⁾:

1. NACE 49: Land transport and transport via pipelines, excluding NACE 49.32 Taxi operation, 49.39 Operation of teleferics, funiculars, ski and cable lifts if not part of urban or suburban transit systems, 49.42 Removal services, 49.5 Transport via pipeline;

2. NACE 50: Water transport;

3. NACE 51: Air transport, excluding NACE 51.22 Space transport;

‘scheme targeted at a limited number of specific sectors of economic activity’ means a scheme which covers activities falling within the scope of less than five classes (four-digit numerical code) of the NACE Rev. 2 statistical classification.

‘tourism activity’ means the following activities in terms of NACE Rev. 2:

1. NACE 55:Accommodation;

2. NACE 56: Food and beverage service activities;

3. NACE 79: Travel agency, tour operator reservation service and related activities;

4. NACE 90: Creative, arts and entertainment activities;

5. NACE 91: Libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities;

6. NACE 93: Sports activities and amusement and recreation activities;

‘completion of the investment’ means the moment when the investment is considered by the national authorities as completed or, in the absence thereof, 3 years after the start of works;

‘sparsely populated areas’ means NUTS 2 regions with less than 8 inhabitants per km² or NUTS 3 regions with less than 12,5 inhabitants per km² or areas which are recognized by the Commission as such in an individual decision on a regional aid map in force at the time the aid is granted;

‘very sparsely populated areas’ means NUTS 2 regions with less than 8 inhabitants per km² or areas which are recognized by the Commission as such in an individual decision on a regional aid map in force at the time the aid is granted;

‘initial investment’ means one of the following:

1. an investment in tangible and intangible assets related to one or more of the following:

   • the setting-up of a new establishment;

   • the extension of the capacity of an existing establishment;

   • the diversification of the output of an establishment into products or services not previously produced in the establishment; or

   • a fundamental change in the overall production process of the product(s) or the overall provision of the service(s) concerned by the investment in the establishment;

2. an acquisition of assets belonging to an establishment that has closed or would have closed had it not been purchased. The sole acquisition of the shares of an undertaking does not qualify as initial investment.

   A replacement investment thus does not constitute an initial investment.

‘same or a similar activity’ means an activity in the same class (four-digit numerical code) of the NACE Rev. 2 statistical classification of economic activities (NACE Rev. 2);

‘initial investment that creates a new economic activity’ means:

1. an investment in tangible and intangible assets related to one or both of the following:

   • the setting up of a new establishment;

   • the diversification of the activity of an establishment, provided that the new activity is not the same or a similar activity to the activity previously performed in the establishment; or

2. an acquisition of assets belonging to an establishment that has closed or would have closed had it not been purchased, provided that the new activity to be carried out using the acquired assets is not the same or a similar activity than the one carried out in the establishment before the acquisition.

   Sole acquisition of the shares of an undertaking does not qualify as initial investment that creates a new economic activity;

‘large investment project’ means an initial investment with eligible costs exceeding EUR 50 million, calculated at prices and exchange rates on the date of granting the aid;

‘point of destination’ means the place where the goods are unloaded;

‘point of origin’ means the place where the goods are loaded for transport;

‘areas eligible for operating aid’ means an outermost region referred to in Article 349 of the Treaty, a sparsely populated area or a very sparsely populated area;

‘means of transport’ means rail transport, road freight transport, inland waterway transport, maritime transport, air transport, and intermodal transport;

‘urban development fund’ (‘UDF’) means a specialised investment vehicle set up for the purpose of investing in urban development projects under an urban development aid measure. UDFs are managed by an urban development fund manager;

‘urban development fund manager’ means a professional management company with legal personality, selecting and making investments in eligible urban development projects;

‘urban development project’ (‘UDP’) means an investment project that has the potential to support the implementation of interventions envisaged by an integrated approach to sustainable urban development and contribute to achieving of the objectives defined therein, including projects with an internal rate of return which may not be sufficient to attract financing on a purely commercial basis. An urban development project may be organised as a separate block of finance within the legal structures of the beneficiary private investor or as a separate legal entity, e.g. a special purpose vehicle;

‘integrated sustainable urban development strategy’ means a strategy officially proposed and certified by a relevant local authority or public sector agency, defined for a specific urban geographic area and period, that set out integrated actions to tackle the economic, environmental, climate, demographic and social challenges affecting urban areas;

‘in-kind contribution’ means the contribution of land or real estate where the land or real estate forms part of the urban development project;

‘relocation’ means a transfer of the same or similar activity or part thereof from an establishment in one contracting party to the EEA Agreement (initial establishment) to the establishment in which the aided investment takes place in another contracting party to the EEA Agreement (aided establishment). There is a transfer if the product or service in the initial and in the aided establishments serves at least partly the same purposes and meets the demands or needs of the same type of customers and jobs are lost in the same or similar activity in one of the initial establishments of the beneficiary in the EEA;

‘employment directly created by an investment project’ means employment concerning the activity to which the investment relates, including employment created following an increase in the utilisation rate of the capacity created by the investment;

‘quasi-equity investment’ means a type of financing that ranks between equity and debt, having a higher risk than senior debt and a lower risk than common equity and whose return for the holder is predominantly based on the profits or losses of the underlying target undertaking and which are unsecured in the event of default. Quasi-equity investments can be structured as debt, unsecured and subordinated, including mezzanine debt, and in some cases convertible into equity, or as preferred equity;

‘guarantee’ in the context of sections 1, 3 and 7 of the Regulation means a written commitment to assume responsibility for all or part of a third party's newly originated loan transactions such as debt or lease instruments, as well as quasi-equity instruments.;

‘guarantee rate’ means the percentage of loss coverage by a public investor of each and every transaction eligible under the relevant State aid measure;

‘exit’ means the liquidation of holdings by a financial intermediary or investor, including trade sale, write-offs, repayment of shares/loans, sale to another financial intermediary or another investor, sale to a financial institution and sale by public offering, including an initial public offering (IPO);

‘financial endowment’ means a repayable public investment made to a financial intermediary for the purposes of making investments under a risk finance measure, and where all the proceeds shall be returned to the public investor;

‘risk finance investment’ means equity and quasi-equity investments, loans including leases, guarantees, or a mix thereof to eligible undertakings for the purposes of making new investments;

‘independent private investor’ means an investor who is private and independent, as defined in this point. ‘Private’ investors mean investors who, irrespective of their ownership structure, pursue a purely commercial interest, use their own resources and bear the full risk in respect of their investment, and include, in particular: credit institutions investing at own risk and from own resources, private endowments and foundations, family offices and business angels, corporate investors, insurance undertakings, pension funds, academic institutions, as well as natural persons who either conduct an economic activity or not. The European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund, an international financial institution in which a Member State is a shareholder, or a legal entity that carries out financial activities on a professional basis which has been given a mandate by a Member State or a Member State’s entity at central, regional or local level to carry out development or promotional activities (national promotional bank or another promotional institution), will not be considered private investors for the purposes of this definition. ‘Independent’ investor means an investor that is not a shareholder of the eligible undertaking in which it invests. In the context of follow-on investments, an investor remains ‘independent’ if it was considered as an independent investor in a previous investment round. Upon the creation of a new company, any private investors, including the founders, of such new company, are considered to be independent from that company;

‘natural person’ for the purpose of Articles 21a and 23 means a person other than a legal entity and who is not an undertaking for the purposes of Article 107(1) of the Treaty;

‘equity investment’ means the provision of capital to an undertaking, invested directly or indirectly in return for the ownership of a corresponding share of that undertaking;

‘first commercial sale’ means the first sale by a company on a product or service market, excluding limited sales to test the market;

‘unlisted SME’ means an SME which is not listed on the official list of a stock exchange, except for alternative trading platforms.

‘follow-on investment’ means additional risk finance investment in a company subsequent to one or more previous risk finance investment rounds;

‘replacement capital’ means the purchase of existing shares in a company from an earlier investor or shareholder;

‘entrusted entity’ means the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund, an international financial institution in which a Member State is a shareholder, or a legal entity that carries out financial activities on a professional basis which has been given mandate by a Member State or a Member State’s entity at central, regional or local level to carry out development or promotional activities (a promotional bank or another promotional institution). The entrusted entity can be selected or directly appointed in accordance with the provisions of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁹⁾ or in accordance with Article 38(4), point (b)(iii), of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽¹⁰⁾ or Article 59(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽¹¹⁾, whichever is applicable;

‘innovative enterprise’ means an enterprise that meets one of the following conditions:

1. it can demonstrate, by means of an evaluation carried out by an external expert, that it will in the foreseeable future develop products, services or processes which are new or substantially improved compared to the state of the art in its industry, and which carry a risk of technological or industrial failure;

2. its research and development costs represent at least 10 % of its total operating costs in at least one of the 3 years preceding the granting of the aid or, in the case of a start-up enterprise without any financial history, in the audit of its current fiscal period, as certified by an external auditor;

3. in the 3 years preceding the granting of the aid: (i) it has been awarded a Seal of Excellence quality label by the European Innovation Council in accordance with the Horizon 2020 work programme 2018-2020 adopted by Commission Implementing Decision C(2017)7124⁽¹²⁾ or with Article 2(23) and Article15(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽¹³⁾; or (ii) it has received an investment by the European Innovation Council Fund, such as an investment in the context of the Accelerator Programme as referred to in Article 48(7) of Regulation (EU) 2021/695;

4. in the 3 years preceding the granting of the aid: (i) it has participated in any action of the Commission’s space initiative ‘CASSINI’ (such as the Business Accelerator or the Matchmaking)⁽¹⁴⁾; or (ii) it has received investment from the CASSINI Seed and Growth Funding Facility, or the InnovFin Space Equity Pilot; or (iii) it has been awarded a CASSINI Prize; or (iv) it has been granted funding in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/695 in the space research area resulting in the creation of a start-up; (v) or has been granted funding as a beneficiary of a research and development action under the European Defence Fund in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/697 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽¹⁵⁾; or (vi) has been granted funding under the European Defence Industrial Development Programme in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1092 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽¹⁶⁾;

‘alternative trading platform’ means a multilateral trading facility as defined in Article 4(1), point (22) of Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽¹⁷⁾ where at least 50 % of the financial instruments admitted to trading are issued by SMEs;

‘loan’ means an agreement which obliges the lender to make available to the borrower an agreed amount of money for an agreed period of time and under which the borrower is obliged to repay the amount within the agreed period. It may take the form of a loan, or another funding instrument, including a lease, which provides the lender with a predominant component of minimum yield. The refinancing of existing loans shall not be an eligible loan.

‘research and knowledge-dissemination organisation’ means an entity (such as universities or research institutes, technology transfer agencies, innovation intermediaries, research-oriented physical or virtual collaborative entities), irrespective of its legal status (organised under public or private law) or way of financing, whose primary goal is to independently conduct fundamental research, industrial research or experimental development or to widely disseminate the results of such activities by way of teaching, publication or knowledge transfer. Where such entity also pursues economic activities the financing, the costs and the revenues of those economic activities must be accounted for separately. Undertakings that can exert a decisive influence upon such an entity, in the quality of, for example, shareholders or members, may not enjoy preferential access to the results generated by it;

‘fundamental research’ means experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts, without any direct commercial application or use in view;

‘industrial research’ means the planned research or critical investigation aimed at the acquisition of new knowledge and skills for developing new products, processes or services or aimed at bringing about a significant improvement in existing products, processes or services, including digital products, processes or services, in any area, technology, industry or sector (including, but not limited to, digital industries and technologies, such as super-computing, quantum technologies, block chain technologies, artificial intelligence, cyber security, big data and cloud technologies).

Industrial research comprises the creation of components parts of complex systems, and may include the construction of prototypes in a laboratory environment or in an environment with simulated interfaces to existing systems as well as of pilot lines, when necessary for the industrial research and notably for generic technology validation;

‘experimental development’ means acquiring, combining, shaping and using existing scientific, technological, business and other relevant knowledge and skills with the aim of developing new or improved products, processes or services, including digital products, processes or services, in any area, technology, industry or sector (including, but not limited to, digital industries and technologies, such as for example super-computing, quantum technologies, block chain technologies, artificial intelligence, cyber security, big data and cloud or edge technologies). This may also encompass, for example, activities aiming at the conceptual definition, planning and documentation of new products, processes or services.

Experimental development may comprise prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real life operating conditions where the primary objective is to make further technical improvements on products, processes or services that are not substantially set. This may include the development of a commercially usable prototype or pilot which is necessarily the final commercial product and which is too expensive to produce for it to be used only for demonstration and validation purposes.

Experimental development does not include routine or periodic changes made to existing products, production lines, manufacturing processes, services and other operations in progress, even if those changes may represent improvements;

‘feasibility study’ means the evaluation and analysis of the potential of a project, which aims at supporting the process of decision-making by objectively and rationally uncovering its strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as identifying the resources required to carry it through and ultimately its prospects for success;

‘personnel costs’ means the costs of researchers, technicians and other supporting staff to the extent employed on the relevant project or activity;

‘effective collaboration’ means collaboration between at least two independent parties to exchange knowledge or technology, or to achieve a common objective based on the division of labour where the parties jointly define the scope of the collaborative project, contribute to its implementation and share its risks, as well as its results. One or several parties may bear the full costs of the project and thus relieve other parties of its financial risks. Contract research and provision of research services are not considered forms of collaboration;

‘Non-defence applications’ for the purposes of Article 25e refers to applications in products other than defence-related products listed in the Annex to Directive 2009/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽¹⁸⁾;

‘research infrastructure’ means facilities, resources and related services that are used by the scientific community to conduct research in their respective fields and covers scientific equipment or sets of instruments, knowledge-based resources such as collections, archives or structured scientific information, enabling information and communication technology-based infrastructures such as grid, computing, software and communication, or any other entity of a unique nature essential to conduct research. Such infrastructures may be ‘single-sited’ or ‘distributed’ (an organised network of resources) in accordance with Article 2(a) of Council Regulation (EC) No 723/2009 of 25 June 2009 on the Community legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC)⁽¹⁹⁾;

‘innovation clusters’ means structures or organised groups of independent parties (such as innovative start-ups, small, medium and large enterprises, as well as research and knowledge dissemination organisations, research infrastructures, testing and experimentation infrastructures, Digital Innovation Hubs, non-for-profit organisations and other related economic actors) designed to stimulate innovative activity and new ways of collaboration, such as by digital means, by sharing and/or promoting the sharing of facilities and exchange of knowledge, and expertise and by contributing effectively to knowledge transfer, networking, information dissemination and collaboration among the undertakings and other organisations in the cluster. Digital Innovation Hubs, including European Digital Innovation Hubs funded under the centrally managed Digital Europe Programme established by Regulation (EU) 2021/694 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽²⁰⁾, are entities whose aim is to stimulate the broad uptake of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, cloud, edge and high-performance computing and cybersecurity, by industry (in particular by SMEs) and public sector organisations. Digital Innovation Hubs may qualify as an innovation cluster by themselves for the purposes of this Regulation;

‘highly qualified personnel’ means staff having a tertiary education degree and at least 5 years of relevant professional experience which may also include doctoral training;

‘innovation advisory services’ means consultancy, assistance or training in the fields of knowledge transfer, acquisition, protection or exploitation of intangible assets or the use of standards and regulations embedding them, as well as consultancy, assistance or training on the introduction or use of innovative technologies and solutions (including digital technologies and solutions);

‘innovation support services’ means the provision of office space, data banks, cloud and data storage services, libraries, market research, laboratories, quality labelling, testing, experimentation and certification or other related services, including those services provided by research and knowledge dissemination organisations, research infrastructures, testing and experimentation infrastructures or innovation clusters, for the purpose of developing more effective or technologically advanced products, processes or services, including the implementation of innovative technologies and solutions (including digital technologies and solutions);

‘organisational innovation’ means the implementation of a new organisational method at the level of the undertaking (at group level in the given industry sector in the EEA), workplace organisation or external relations, including for instance by making use of novel or innovative digital technologies. Excluded from this definition are changes that are based on organisational methods already in use in the undertaking, changes in management strategy, mergers and acquisitions, ceasing to use a process, simple capital replacement or extension, changes resulting purely from changes in factor prices, customisation, localisation, regular, seasonal and other cyclical changes and trading of new or significantly improved products;

‘process innovation’ means the implementation of a new or significantly improved production or delivery method, including significant changes in techniques, equipment or software, at the level of the undertaking (at group level in the given industry sector in the EEA), including for instance by making use of novel or innovative digital technologies or solutions. Excluded from this definition are minor changes or improvements, increases in production or service capabilities through the addition of manufacturing or logistical systems which are very similar to those already in use, ceasing to use a process, simple capital replacement or extension, changes resulting purely from changes in factor prices, customisation, localisation, regular, seasonal and other cyclical changes and trading of new or significantly improved products;

‘secondment’ means temporary employment of staff by a beneficiary with the right for the staff to return to the previous employer;

‘testing and experimentation infrastructure’ means facilities, equipment, capabilities and resources, such as test beds, pilot lines, demonstrators, testing facilities or living labs, and related support services that are used predominantly by undertakings, especially SMEs, which seek support for testing and experimentation, in order to develop new or improved products, processes and services, and to test and upscale technologies, to advance through industrial research and experimental development. Access to publicly funded testing and experimentation infrastructures is open to several users and must be granted on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis and on market terms. Testing and experimentation infrastructures are sometimes also known as technology infrastructures⁽²¹⁾;

‘severely disadvantaged worker’ means any person who:

1. has not been in regular paid employment for at least 24 months; or

2. has not been in regular paid employment for at least 12 months and belongs to one of the categories (b) to (g) mentioned under the definition of ‘disadvantaged worker’.

‘sheltered employment’ means employment in an undertaking where at least 30 % of workers are workers with disabilities;

‘environmental protection’ means any action or activity designed to reduce or prevent pollution, negative environmental impacts or other damage to physical surroundings (including to air, water and soil), ecosystems or natural resources by human activities, including to mitigate climate change, to reduce the risk of such damage, to protect and restore biodiversity or to lead to more efficient use of natural resources, including energy-saving measures and the use of renewable sources of energy and other techniques to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, as well as to shift to circular economy models to reduce the use of primary materials and increase efficiencies. It also covers actions that reinforce adaptive capacity and minimise vulnerability to climate impacts;

‘Union standard’ means:

1. a mandatory Union standard setting the levels to be attained in environmental terms by individual undertakings, excluding standards or targets set at Union level which are binding for Member States but not for individual undertakings; or

2. the obligation to use the best available techniques (BAT), as defined in Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽²²⁾, and to ensure that emission levels do not exceed those that would be achieved when applying BAT; where emission levels associated with the BAT have been defined in implementing acts adopted under Directive 2010/75/EU or under other applicable directives, those levels will be applicable for the purposes of this Regulation; where those levels are expressed as a range, the limit for which the BAT is first achieved for the undertaking concerned will be applicable;

‘recharging infrastructure’ means a fixed or mobile infrastructure supplying vehicles or mobile terminal equipment or mobile groundhandling equipment with electricity;

‘refuelling infrastructure’ means a fixed or mobile infrastructure supplying vehicles or mobile terminal equipment or mobile groundhandling equipment with hydrogen;

‘renewable hydrogen’ means hydrogen produced from renewable energy in accordance with the methodologies set out for renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological origin in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽²³⁾;

‘renewable electricity’ means electricity generated from renewable sources, as defined in Article 2, point (1), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

‘smart recharging’ means a recharging operation in which the intensity of electricity delivered to the battery is adjusted in real-time, based on information received through electronic communication;

‘clean vehicle’ means:

1. concerning light-duty road vehicles: a clean vehicle as defined in Article 4, point (4)(a), of Directive 2009/33/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽²⁴⁾;

2. concerning heavy-duty road vehicles:

   • until 31 December 2025, a low-emission heavy-duty vehicle as defined in Article 3, point (12), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽²⁵⁾;

   • until 31 December 2025, a clean vehicle as defined in Article 4, point (4)(b), of Directive 2009/33/EC and not falling within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2019/1242;

3. concerning inland waterway vessels:

   • an inland vessel for passenger transport that has a hybrid or dual fuel engine deriving at least 50 % of its energy from zero direct (tailpipe) CO2 emission fuels or plug-in power for its normal operation;

   • an inland vessel for freight transport with direct (tailpipe) emissions of CO2 per tonne kilometre (g CO2/tkm), calculated (or estimated in case of new vessels) using the International Maritime Organization Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator (EEOI), 50 % lower than the average reference value for emissions of CO2 determined for heavy duty vehicles (vehicle subgroup 5- LH) in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1242;

4. concerning maritime vessels:

   • a sea and coastal vessel for passenger, freight transport, for port operations or for auxiliary activities that (i) has a hybrid or dual fuel engine deriving at least 25 % of its energy from zero direct (tailpipe) CO2 emission fuels or plug-in power for its normal operation at sea and in ports, or (ii) has an attained International Maritime Organization’s Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) value 10 % below the EEDI requirements applicable on 1 April 2022 and is able to run on zero direct (tailpipe) CO2 emission fuels or on fuels from renewable sources;

   • a sea and coastal vessel for freight transport that is used exclusively for operating coastal and short sea services designed to enable modal shift of freight currently transported by land to sea and that has direct (tailpipe) CO2 emissions, calculated using the EEDI, 50 % lower than the average reference CO2 emissions value determined for heavy duty vehicles (vehicle sub group 5-LH) as published in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1242;

5. concerning rail rolling stock: rolling stock that has zero direct tailpipe CO2 emissions when operated on a track with necessary infrastructure and that uses a conventional engine where such infrastructure is not available (bimode);

‘zero-emission vehicle’ means:

1. concerning two- and three-wheel vehicles and quadricycles: a vehicle falling within the scope of Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽²⁶⁾ with zero tailpipe CO2 emissions, calculated in accordance with the requirements laid down in Article 24 and Annex V to that Regulation;

2. concerning light-duty road vehicles: a vehicle of category M1, M2 or N1 with zero tailpipe CO2 emissions, as determined in accordance with the requirements laid down in Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1151⁽²⁷⁾;

3. concerning heavy-duty road vehicles: a zero-emission heavy duty vehicle as defined in Article 4, point (5), of Directive 2009/33/EC;

4. concerning inland waterway vessels: an inland vessel for passenger or freight transport with zero direct (tailpipe/exhaust) CO2 emissions;

5. concerning maritime vessels: a sea and coastal vessel for passenger or freight transport, for port operations or for auxiliary activities that has zero direct (tailpipe) CO2 emissions;

6. concerning rail rolling stock: rolling stock that has zero direct (tailpipe) CO2 emissions;

‘vehicle’ means any of the following:

1. a road vehicle of category M1, M2, N1, M3, N2, N3 or L;

2. an inland or a sea and coastal vessel for passenger or freight transport;

3. rolling stock;

4. aircraft;

‘mobile groundhandling equipment’ means mobile equipment used in service activities incidental to air or maritime transport;

‘mobile terminal equipment’ means mobile equipment used for the loading, unloading and transhipment of goods and intermodal loading units, and for moving cargo within a terminal area;

‘energy efficiency’ means energy efficiency as defined in Article 2, point (4), of Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽²⁸⁾;

‘primary energy’ means energy from renewable and non-renewable sources which has not undergone any conversion or transformation process;

‘digitalisation’ means the adoption of technologies carried out by electronic devices and/or systems which make it possible to increase product functionality, develop online services, modernise processes, or migrate to business models based on the disintermediation of goods production and service delivery, eventually producing a transformative impact;

‘smart-readiness’ means the capability of buildings or building units to adapt their operation to the needs of the occupant, including optimising energy efficiency and overall performance, and to adapt their operation in response to signals from the grid;

‘small mid-cap’ means an undertaking that is not an SME and whose number of employees does not exceed 499, calculated in accordance with Articles 3 to 6 of Annex I, the annual turnover of which does not exceed EUR 100 million or the annual balance sheet of which does not exceed EUR 86 million; several entities shall be considered as one undertaking if any of the conditions listed in Article 3(3) of Annex I is fulfilled. For the purpose of the application of Article 56e(10) and Article 56f, small mid-cap means an undertaking that is not an SME and employs up to 499 employees;

‘energy savings’ means energy savings as defined in Article 2, point (5), of Directive 2012/27/EU;

‘energy efficiency project’ means an investment project that increases the energy efficiency of a building;

‘energy efficiency fund’ or ‘EEF’ means a special investment vehicle set up for the purpose of investing in energy efficiency projects aimed at improving the energy efficiency of buildings. EEFs are managed by an energy efficiency fund manager;

‘energy efficiency fund manager’ means a professional management company with a legal personality, selecting and making investments in eligible energy efficiency projects;

‘high-efficiency cogeneration’ means cogeneration which satisfies the definition of high efficiency cogeneration as set out in Article 2(34) of Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC⁽³⁰⁾;

‘cogeneration’ or ‘combined heat and power’ or ‘CHP’ means cogeneration as defined in Article 2, point (30), of Directive 2012/27/EU;

‘cogeneration based on renewable energy sources’ means cogeneration using 100 % energy from renewable sources as an input for the production of heat and power;

‘heat pump’ means a machine, a device or installation that transfers heat from natural surroundings such as air, water or ground to buildings or industrial applications by reversing the natural flow of heat such that it flows from a lower to a higher temperature. For reversible heat pumps, it may also move heat from the building to the natural surroundings;

‘energy from renewable sources’ or ‘renewable energy’ means energy produced by plants using only renewable energy sources as defined in Article 2, point (1), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, as well as the share in terms of calorific value of energy produced from renewable energy sources in hybrid plants which also use conventional energy sources and includes renewable electricity used for filling storage systems connected behind-the-meter (jointly installed or as an add-on to the renewable installation), but excludes electricity produced as a result of storage systems;

‘renewable energy community’ means renewable energy community as defined in Article 2, point (16) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

‘innovative technology’ means a new and recently qualified technology compared to the state of the art in the industry, which carries a risk of technological or industrial failure and is not an optimisation or scaling up of an existing technology;

‘demonstration project’ means demonstration project as defined in Article 2, point (24), of Regulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽³²⁾;

‘contract for difference’ means an aid instrument which entitles the beneficiary to a payment equal to the difference between a fixed ‘strike’ price(s) and a reference price – such as a market price, per unit of output;

‘balancing’ for electricity means balancing as defined in Article 2, point (10), of Regulation (EU) 2019/943;

‘standard balancing responsibilities’ means non-discriminatory balancing responsibilities across technologies which do not exempt from balance responsibility any generator as set out in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943;

‘balance responsible party (BRP)’ means balance responsible party as defined in Article 2, point (14), of Regulation (EU) 2019/943;

‘biomass’ means the biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues from biological origin, as defined in Article 2, point (24), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

‘biofuels’ means biofuels as defined in Article 2, point (33), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

‘biogas’ means biogas as defined in Article 2, point (28), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

‘bioliquids’ means bioliquids as defined in Article 2, point (32), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

‘biomass fuels’ means biomass fuels as defined in Article 2, point (27), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

‘funding gap’ means the net extra cost determined by the difference between the economic revenues and costs (including the investment and operation) of the aided project and those of the alternative project which the aid beneficiary would credibly carry out in the absence of aid. To determine the funding gap, the Member State must quantify, for the factual scenario and a credible counterfactual scenario, all main costs and revenues, the estimated weighted average cost of capital (‘WACC’) of the beneficiaries to discount future cash flows, as well as the net present value (‘NPV’) for the factual and counterfactual scenarios, over the lifetime of the project. The typical net extra cost can be estimated as the difference between the NPV for the factual scenario and for the counterfactual scenario over the lifetime of the reference project;

‘environmental tax or parafiscal levy’ means a tax or a levy applied on a specific tax base, products or services that have a clear negative effect on the environment or which seeks to charge certain activities, goods or services so that the environmental costs may be included in their price or so that producers and consumers are oriented towards activities which better respect the environment;

‘Union minimum tax level’ means the minimum level of taxation provided for in the Union legislation; for energy products and electricity it means the minimum level of taxation laid down in Annex I to Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity⁽³³⁾;

‘remediation’ means environmental management actions, such as the removal or detoxification of contaminates or excess nutrients from soil and water, that aim to remove sources of degradation;

‘rehabilitation’ means environmental management actions that aim to reinstate a level of ecosystem functioning on degraded sites, where the goal is renewed and ongoing provision of ecosystem services rather than the biodiversity and integrity of a designated natural or semi-natural reference ecosystem;

‘ecosystem’ means ecosystem as defined in Article 2, point (13), of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽³⁴⁾;

‘biodiversity’ means biodiversity as defined in Article 2, point (15), of Regulation (EU) 2020/852;

‘polluter pays principle’ or ‘PPP’ means that the costs of measures to deal with pollution should be borne by the polluter who causes the pollution;

‘pollution’ means the damage caused by a polluter directly or indirectly damaging the environment, or by creating conditions leading to such damage to physical surroundings or natural resources;

‘pollutant’ means a pollutant as defined in Article 2, point (10), of Regulation (EU) 2020/852;

‘pollution’ means pollution as defined in Article 3, point (2), of Directive 2010/75/EU;

‘nature-based solution’ means an action to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use and manage natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems, which addresses social, economic and environmental challenges effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human well-being, ecosystem services, resilience and biodiversity benefits;

‘restoration’ means the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem as a means of conserving biodiversity and increasing ecosystem resilience, notably to climate change. The restoration of ecosystems includes measures taken for the improvement of the condition of an ecosystem and the recreation or re-establishment of an ecosystem where that condition was lost and the improvement of ecosystem resilience and adaptation to climate change;

‘energy efficient district heating and cooling’ means efficient district heating and cooling as defined in Article 2, point (41), of Directive 2012/27/EU;

‘district heating’ and ‘district cooling’ means district heating or district cooling as defined in Article 2, point (19), of Directive 2010/31/EU;

‘district heating and cooling systems’, means heating and/or cooling generation facilities, thermal storage and distribution network, comprising both primary – transmission – and secondary network of pipelines, to supply heating or cooling to consumers. Reference to district heating is to be interpreted as district heating and/or cooling systems, depending on whether the networks supply heat or cooling jointly or separately;

‘polluter’ means someone who directly or indirectly damages the environment or who creates conditions leading to such damage.

‘re-use’ means re-use as defined in Article 3, point (13), of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽³⁵⁾;

‘preparing for re-use’ means preparing for re-use as defined in Article 3, point (16), of Directive 2008/98/EC;

‘recycling’ means recycling as defined in Article 3, point (17), of Directive 2008/98/EC;

‘resource efficiency’ means reducing the quantity of inputs needed to produce a unit of output or substituting primary inputs with secondary inputs;

‘waste’ means waste as defined in Article 3, point (1), of Directive 2008/98/EC;

‘waste heat’ means waste heat as defined in Article 2, point (9), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

‘treatment’ means treatment as defined in Article 3, point (14), of Directive 2008/98/EC as well as treatment of other products, materials, or substances;

‘recovery’ means recovery as defined in Article 3, point (15), of Directive 2008/98/EC as well as recovery of other products, materials or substances;

‘disposal’ means disposal as defined in Article 3, point (19), of Directive 2008/98/EC;

‘other products, materials or substances’ means materials, products and substances other than waste, including by-products referred to in Article 5 of Directive 2008/98/EC, agricultural and forestry residues, waste water, rain water and runoff water, minerals, nutrients, residual gases from production processes, and redundant products, parts and materials;

‘redundant products, parts and materials’ means products, parts or materials that are no longer needed by or useful for its holder but are suitable for re-use;

‘separate collection’ means separate collection as defined in Article 3, point (11), of Directive 2008/98/EC;

‘energy infrastructure’ means any physical equipment or facility which is located within the Union or linking the Union to one or more third countries and falling under the following categories:

1. electricity:

   1. transmission and distribution systems, where ‘transmission’ means the transport of electricity onshore as well as offshore on the extra high-voltage and high-voltage interconnected system with a view to its delivery to final customers or to distributors, but does not include supply and ‘distribution’ means the transport of electricity onshore as well as offshore on high-voltage, medium-voltage and low-voltage distribution systems with a view to its delivery to customers, but does not include supply;

   2. any equipment or installation essential for the systems referred to in point (i) to operate safely, securely and efficiently, including protection, monitoring and control systems at all voltage levels and substations;

   3. fully integrated network components, as defined in Article 2, point (51), of Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽³⁶⁾;

   4. smart electricity grids, which means systems and components integrating information and communications technology, through operational digital platforms, control systems and sensor technologies both at transmission and distribution level, aiming at a more secure, efficient and intelligent electricity transmission and distribution network, increased capacity to integrate new forms of generation, storage and consumption and facilitating new business models and market structures;

   5. off-shore electricity grids, which means any equipment or installation of electricity transmission or distribution infrastructure as defined in point (i), which has dual functionality: interconnection and transmission or distribution of offshore renewable electricity from the offshore generation sites to two or more countries. This also includes smart grids as well as any offshore adjacent equipment or installation essential to operate safely, securely and efficiently, including protection, monitoring and control systems, and necessary substations if they also ensure technology interoperability and among other interface compatibility between different technologies;

2. gas (natural gas, biogas- including biomethane – and/or renewable gas of non-biological origin):

   1. transmission and distribution pipelines for the transport of gas that form part of a network, excluding high-pressure pipelines used for upstream distribution of natural gas;

   2. underground storage facilities connected to the high-pressure gas pipelines referred to in point (i);

   3. reception, storage and regasification or decompression facilities for liquefied or compressed gas;

   4. any equipment or installation essential for the system to operate safely, securely and efficiently or to enable bi-directional capacity, including compressor stations;

   5. smart gas grids, which means any of the following equipment or installation aiming at enabling and facilitating the integration of renewable and low-carbon gases (including hydrogen or gases of non-biological origin) into the network: digital systems and components integrating information and communication technologies, control systems and sensor technologies to enable the interactive and intelligent monitoring, metering, quality control and management of gas production, transmission, distribution and consumption within a gas network. Furthermore, smart grids may also include equipment to enable reverse flows from the distribution to the transmission level and related necessary upgrades to the existing network;

3. hydrogen:

   1. transmission pipelines, for the high-pressure transport of hydrogen, as well as distribution pipelines for the local distribution of hydrogen, giving access to multiple network users on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis;

   2. storage facilities, which means facilities used for the stocking of hydrogen of a high grade of purity, including the part of a hydrogen terminal used for storage but excluding the portion used for production operations, and including facilities reserved exclusively for hydrogen network operators in carrying out their functions. Hydrogen storage facilities include underground storage facilities connected to the high-pressure hydrogen pipelines referred to in point (i);

   3. dispatch, reception, storage and regasification or decompression facilities for hydrogen or hydrogen embedded in other chemical substances with the objective of injecting the hydrogen into the grid either for gas or dedicated to hydrogen;

   4. terminals, which means installations used for the transformation of liquid hydrogen into gaseous hydrogen for injection into the hydrogen network. Terminals include ancillary equipment and temporary storage necessary for the transformation process and subsequent injection into the hydrogen network, but does not include any part of the hydrogen terminal used for storage;

   5. interconnectors, which means a hydrogen network (or part thereof) which crosses or spans a border between Member States, or between a Member State and a third country up to the territory of the Member States or the territorial sea of that Member State;

   6. any equipment or installation essential for the hydrogen system to operate safely, securely and efficiently or to enable bi-directional capacity, including compressor stations;

   Any of the assets listed under points (i) to (vi) may be newly constructed assets or assets converted from natural gas to hydrogen, or a combination of the two. Assets listed under points (i) to (vi), which are subject to third party access shall qualify as energy infrastructure;

4. carbon dioxide:

   1. pipelines, other than upstream pipeline network, used to transport carbon dioxide from more than one source, this is to say, industrial installations (including power plants) that produce carbon dioxide gas from combustion or other chemical reactions involving fossil or non-fossil carbon-containing compounds, for the purpose of permanent geological storage of carbon dioxide pursuant to Article 3 of Directive 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽³⁷⁾ or for the purpose of use of carbon dioxide as feedstock or to enhance the yields of biological processes;

   2. facilities for liquefaction and buffer storage of carbon dioxide in view of its transport or storage. This does not include infrastructure within a geological formation used for the permanent geological storage of carbon dioxide pursuant to Article 3 of Directive 2009/31/EC and associated surface and injection facilities;

   3. any equipment or installation essential for the system in question to operate properly, securely and efficiently, including protection, monitoring and control systems. This may include dedicated mobile assets for the transport and storage of carbon dioxide, provided that such mobile assets fulfil the definition of a clean vehicle;

   Assets listed under points (i), (ii) and (iii) which are subject to third party access shall qualify as energy infrastructure;

5. infrastructure used for transmission or distribution of thermal energy in the form of steam, hot water or chilled liquids from multiple producers or users, based on use of renewable energy or waste heat from industrial applications;

6. Projects of Common Interest, as defined in Article 2, point (4), of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽³⁸⁾ and project of mutual interest referred to in Article 171 of the Treaty;

7. other infrastructure categories that enable physical or wireless connection of renewable or carbon-free energy between producers and users from multiple access and exit points and which are open to access by third parties not belonging to the infrastructure owner or manager undertakings;

Assets listed under points (a) to (g) which are built for one or a small group of ex ante identified users and tailored to their needs (‘dedicated infrastructure’) shall not qualify as energy infrastructure.

‘distribution system operator’ (DSO) means a distribution system operator as defined in Article 2, point (29), of Directive (EU) 2019/944;

‘transmission system operator’ (TSO) means a transmission system operator as defined in Article 2, point (35), of Directive (EU) 2019/944;

‘electricity storage’ means deferring the final use of electricity to a moment later than when it was generated, or the conversion of electrical energy into a form of energy which can be stored, the storing of such energy, and the subsequent reconversion of such energy into electrical energy;

‘thermal storage’ means deferring the final use of thermal energy to a moment later than when it was generated, or the conversion of electrical or thermal energy into a form of energy which can be stored, the storing of such energy, and, where appropriate, the subsequent conversion or reconversion of such energy into thermal energy for final use (i.e., heating or cooling);

‘internal energy market legislation’ means Directive (EU) 2019/944, Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽³⁹⁾, Regulation (EU) 2019/943 and Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁴⁰⁾;

‘carbon capture and storage’ or ‘CCS’ means a set of technologies that make it possible to capture the CO2 emitted from industrial plants, including process-inherent emissions, or to capture it directly from ambient air, to transport it to a storage site and inject it in suitable underground geological formations for the purpose of permanent storage;

‘carbon capture and use’ or ‘CCU’ means a set of technologies that make it possible to capture the CO2 emitted from industrial plants, including process-inherent emissions, or to capture it directly from ambient air, and to transport it to a CO2-consumption or utilisation site for full usage of that CO2;

‘normal residence’ means the place where a natural person lives for at least 185 days, in each calendar year, because of personal and occupational ties; in the case of a person whose occupational ties are in a different place from his/her personal ties and who lives in two or more Member States, the place of normal residence is regarded as the place of his/her personal ties provided that he/she returns there regularly; where a person is living in a Member State in order to carry out a task of a set duration, the place of residence is still regarded as being the place of his/her personal ties, irrespective of whether he/she returns there during the course of this activity; attendance at a university or school in another Member State does not constitute a transfer of normal residence; alternatively, ‘normal residence’ shall have the meaning attributed to it in Member States' national law.

‘ducts’ means underground pipes or conduits used to house (fibre, copper or coax) cables of a broadband network.

‘physical unbundling’ grants access to the end-consumer access line and allows competitors' own transmission systems to directly transmit over it.

‘broadband infrastructure’ means a broadband network without any active component and comprises the physical infrastructure, including ducts, poles, masts, towers, dark fibre, cabinets and cables (including dark fibre and copper cables);

‘backhaul network’ means the part of a broadband network that connects the access network to the backbone network and which does not provide direct access to end-users. It is the part of the network where the traffic of end users is aggregated;

‘backbone network’ means the core network that interconnects backhaul networks from different areas or regions;

‘access network’ means the segment of a broadband network that connects the backhaul network with the end users’ premises or devices;

‘wholesale access’ means access which enables an operator to utilise the facilities of another operator. The wholesale access shall include, on the basis of the current technological developments, at least the following access products: (i) for FTTx networks: access to the broadband infrastructure, unbundling and bitstream access; (ii) for cable networks: access to the broadband infrastructure and access to active services; (iii) for fixed wireless networks: access to the broadband infrastructure and access to active services; (iv) for mobile networks: access to the broadband infrastructure and access to active services (at least roaming); (v) for satellite platforms: access to active services; (vi) for backhaul networks: access to the broadband infrastructure and access to active services;

‘premises passed’ means end-user premises to which, upon request from end-users and within 4 weeks from the date of request, a provider can provide broadband services (regardless of whether these premises are already connected or not connected to the network). The price charged for the provision of broadband services at the end users’ premises in this case must not exceed normal connection fees, meaning it must not include any additional or exceptional cost as compared to the standard commercial practice and, in any case, must not exceed the usual price in the Member State concerned. That price must be determined by the competent national authority;

‘socioeconomic drivers’ means entities which by their mission, nature or location can directly or indirectly generate important socioeconomic benefits to citizens, business and local communities located in their surrounding territory or in their area of influence, including among others public authorities, public or private entities entrusted with the operation of services of general interest or of services of general economic interest as set out in Article 106(2) of the Treaty and digitally intensive enterprises;

‘5G corridor’ means a transport path, road, railway or inland waterway, fully covered with digital connectivity infrastructure, in particular 5G systems, and enabling the uninterrupted provision of synergy digital services as defined in Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁴¹⁾, such as connected and automated mobility, similar smart mobility services for railways or digital connectivity on inland waterways;

‘peak-time’ means the time of the day with a typical duration of one hour where the network load is usually at its maximum;

‘peak-time conditions’ means the conditions under which the network is expected to operate at ‘peak-time’;

‘relevant time horizon’ means a time horizon used for verifying planned private investments and corresponds to the time frame that the Member State estimates for deploying the planned State funded network, starting from the moment of publication of the public consultation on the planned State intervention until the entry into operation of the network (i.e. start of the provision of wholesale and/or retail services on the State funded network). The relevant time horizon cannot be shorter than 2 years;

‘difficult audiovisual works’: means the works identified as such by Member States on the basis of pre-defined criteria when setting up schemes or granting the aid and may include films whose sole original version is in a language of a Member State with a limited territory, population or language area, short films, films by first-time and second-time directors, documentaries, or low budget or otherwise commercially difficult works.

Development Assistance Committee (DAC) List of the OECD: means all countries and territories that are eligible to receive official development assistance and included in the list compiled by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD);

‘reasonable profit’ shall be determined with respect to the typical profit for the sector concerned. In any event, a rate of return on capital that does not exceed the relevant swap rate plus a premium of 100 basis points will be considered to be reasonable.

‘professional sport’ means the practice of sport in the nature of gainful employment or remunerated service, irrespective of whether or not a formal labour contract has been established between the professional sportsperson and the relevant sport organisation, where the compensation exceeds the cost of participation and constitutes a significant part of the income for the sportsperson. Travel and accommodation expenses to participate to the sport event shall not be considered as compensation for the purposes of this Regulation.

‘airport infrastructure’ means infrastructure and equipment for the provision of airport services by the airport to airlines and the various service providers, including runways, terminals, aprons, taxiways, centralised ground handling infrastructure and any other facilities that directly support the airport services, excluding infrastructure and equipment which is primarily necessary for pursuing non-aeronautical activities;

‘airline’ means any airline with a valid operating licence issued by a Member State or a Member of the Common European Aviation Area pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁴²⁾;

‘airport’ means an entity or group of entities performing the economic activity of providing airport services to airlines;

‘airport services’ means services provided to airlines by an airport or any of its subsidiaries, to ensure the handling of aircraft, from landing to take-off, and of passengers and freight, so as to enable airlines to provide air transport services, including the provision of ground handling services and the provision of centralised ground handling infrastructure;

‘average annual passenger traffic’ means a figure determined on the basis of the inbound and outbound passenger traffic during the two financial years preceding that in which the aid is granted;

‘centralised ground handling infrastructure’ means infrastructure which is normally operated by the airport manager and put at the disposal of the various providers of ground handling services active at the airport in exchange for remuneration, excluding equipment owned or operated by the providers of ground handling services;

‘high-speed train’ means a train capable of reaching speeds of over 200 km/h;

‘ground handling services’ means services provided to airport users at airports as described in the Annex to Council Directive 96/67/EC⁽⁴³⁾;

‘non-aeronautical activities’ means commercial services to airlines or other users of the airport, including ancillary services to passengers, freight forwarders or other service providers, renting out of offices and shops, car parking and hotels;

‘regional airport’ means an airport with average annual passenger traffic of up to 3 million passengers;

‘port’ means an area of land and water made up of such infrastructure and equipment, so as to permit the reception of waterborne vessels, their loading and unloading, the storage of goods, the receipt and delivery of those goods and the embarkation and disembarkation of passengers, crew and other persons and any other infrastructure necessary for transport operators in the port;

‘maritime port’ means a port for, principally, the reception of sea-going vessels;

‘inland port’ means a port other than a maritime port, for the reception of inland waterway vessels;

‘port infrastructure’ means infrastructure and facilities for the provision of transport related port services, for example berths used for the mooring of ships, quay walls, jetties and floating pontoon ramps in tidal areas, internal basins, backfills and land reclamation, infrastructure for the collection of ship-generated waste and cargo residues and recharging and refuelling infrastructure in ports supplying vehicles, mobile terminal equipment and mobile groundhandling equipment with electricity, hydrogen, ammonia and methanol;

‘port superstructure’ means surface arrangements (such as for storage), fixed equipment (such as warehouses and terminal buildings) as well as mobile equipment (such as cranes) located in a port for the provision of transport related port services;

‘access infrastructure’ means any type of infrastructure necessary to ensure access and entry from land or sea and river by users to a port, or in a port, such as roads, rail tracks, channels and locks;

‘dredging’ means the removal of sediments from the bottom of the waterway access to a port, or in a port;

‘vessels’ mean floating structures, whether self-propelled or not, with one or more surface displacement hulls;

‘sea-going vessels’ mean vessels other than those which navigate solely or mainly in inland waterways or in waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters;

‘inland waterway vessels’ mean vessels intended solely or mainly for navigation on inland waterways or in waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters;

‘infrastructure for the collection of ship-generated waste and cargo residues’ means fixed, floating or mobile port facilities capable of receiving ship-generated waste or cargo residues as defined in Directive 2000/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁴⁴⁾.

‘InvestEU Fund’, ‘EU guarantee’, ‘financial product’, ‘national promotional banks or institutions’ and ‘implementing partner’ have the meaning set out in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2021/523;

‘financial intermediary’ for the purposes of Section 16 means a financial intermediary within the meaning of point (34), with the exception of implementing partners;

‘commercial financial intermediary’ means a financial intermediary which operates on a for profit basis and at full own risk, without a public guarantee, national promotional banks or institutions are not considered to be commercial financial intermediaries;

‘TEN-T urban node’ has the meaning set out in Article 3, point (p), of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁴⁵⁾;

‘new entrant’ means a railway undertaking within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁴⁶⁾, which fulfils the following conditions:

1. it received a licence pursuant to Article 17(3) of Directive 2012/34/EU for the relevant market segment less than 20 years before the aid is granted;

2. it is not linked within the meaning of Article 3(3) of Annex I to this Regulation to a railway undertaking that received a license within the meaning of Article 3(14) of Directive 2012/34/EU prior to 1 January 2010;

‘urban transport’ means transport within a city or an agglomeration and its commuting zones;

‘ecosystem’, ‘biodiversity’ and ‘the good condition of an ecosystem’ have the meaning set out in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁴⁷⁾.