Adaptation of Polish law to EU regulations – de minimis aid act published

On 8 November, a law was published that introduces changes to the Polish regulations on de minimis aid. The new regulations are a response to the EU changes of 1 January 2024. Their aim is to adapt Polish law to the applicable European standards. Thanks to those changes, Polish undertakings will be able to take advantage of financial support more easily.

De minimis aid act – what changes can businesses expect?

The Act of 18 October 2024 amending certain acts related to the provision of de minimis aid primarily concerns the method of calculating aid limits and increasing the maximum amount of aid.

De minimis aid is addressed to small and medium-sized enterprises and is a special form of support provided by the state. Due to its relatively small value, it does not distort competition at the EU level.

The new regulations are intended to adapt Polish law to EU regulations, which came into force at the beginning of 2024. The most important changes provided for in the Act are as follows:

• Higher amount of aid: businesses can receive more money in the form of de minimis aid than before, because the maximum amount of de minimis aid that an entrepreneur can spend over a 3- year period has been increased from EUR 200,000 to EUR 300,000 and from EUR 500,000 to EUR 750,000;
• Increased aid limit in the road freight transport sector: de minimis aid limit for businesses in this sector has been increased from EUR 100,000 to EUR 300,000;
• Full 3 years: the calculation of a 3-year period during which the amounts of aid received are added up has changed. Previously, the current year and two previous fiscal years were taken into account. Now the period covers full 3 years from the date the aid was granted i.e. conclusion date of the project co-financing agreement;
• New sectors: support is now available to companies in sectors that were previously ineligible, such as the coal industry and the processing and marketing of fishery and aquaculture products.

Thanks to the new regulations, Polish companies will be able to:

• develop faster;
• create new jobs;
• increase their competitiveness in the market.

The Act entered into force on the day following the date of publication.

De minimis aid in numbers

According to the data of the report of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection on de minimis aid granted to entrepreneurs in Poland, in 2022, 306 thousand beneficiaries received aid and in 2023 this number decreased to 291 thousand.

The total value of aid granted in 2023 accounted for 0.3% of GDP and amounted to PLN 10,337.3 million, equivalent to EUR 2,275.4 million (assuming the average exchange rate in 2023: EUR 1 = PLN 4.5430). Among the types of aid, grants and tax concessions dominated (PLN 6,606.2 million). On the other hand, the largest increase was observed in the group that includes aid in the form of guarantees and warranties. In 2023, PLN 635.6 million (29.7%) more aid was granted in this group than in 2022.

Furthermore, taking into account the legal basis of the aid granted, the largest share – 32.2% (PLN 327.6 million) of total de minimis aid in 2023 – was granted under the Act of 20 April 2004 on the Promotion of Employment and Labour Market Institutions.

Read also: Employment of foreigners. Draft amendment to the regulations against the background of current regulations

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