Sectoral intervention Wine Investments "W002" - 2025/2026 campaign

The intervention finances tangible and/or intangible investments in wine-processing facilities and wine-marketing infrastructures and tools, which are aimed at improving the overall performance of the enterprise, in terms of adapting to market demand and increasing its competitiveness. The investments concern the production and/or marketing of products listed in Part II of Annex VII to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 as amended and supplemented, also with a view to improving energy savings, overall efficiency and sustainable treatments.

Investments relating to the production/marketing of wine vinegar (referred to in Annex VII, Part II of EU Reg. 1308/2013 and subsequent amendments and integrations.).

Below are some clarifications on the type of aid:

Operations eligible for funding - Eligible expenditure

Priority criteria

The aid is granted up to a maximum of 40% of the budgeted and eligible expenditure (excluding VAT) if the investment is made by an enterprise that can be classified as micro, small and medium-sized.

The maximum limit is reduced to 20% of the budgeted and eligible expenditure (excluding VAT) if the investment is made by an enterprise that can be classified as intermediate or that employs fewer than 750 employees or whose annual turnover is less than EUR 200 million.

The upper limit is reduced to 19% of the budgeted and eligible expenditure (excluding VAT) if the investment is made by an enterprise that qualifies as large or employs more than 750 employees or has an annual turnover of more than €200 million.

The minimum amount of the aid application is EUR 15,000.00.

The aid application may be considered eligible for financing if the eligible expenditure is not less than EUR 15,000.00.

Projects will not be considered eligible for financing if the amount of the application for final payment is less than €15,000.00.

The maximum amount of the aid application is EUR 700,000.00. This amount is raised to €2,000,000 if the application is submitted by intermediate and large enterprises. In the latter case, the enterprise must submit a two-year application with a mandatory prepayment request. In order to maximise the use of the available resources, also at national level, PAT, in agreement with the applicant, reserves the right to find alternative solutions, in relation to the duration of the investment and the aid disbursement methods.

The above-mentioned tangible and/or intangible investments must be maintained on the farm for a minimum period of five years from the application for final payment. Pursuant to Article 11 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/126, paragraph 1, first subparagraph, lett. b), the investment, which is the subject of the aid, must be kept on the farm for a period of at least five years with the constraint of use, nature and specific purpose for which it was made, with the prohibition of alienation, cession and transfer for any reason whatsoever, except in cases of force majeure and exceptional circumstances, unforeseeable at the time of the submission of the aid application and/or request for final payment, pursuant to Article 3) - paragraph 1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

The duly justified circumstances, which are foreseen only and exclusively due to force majeure or exceptional circumstances, must be promptly communicated by the beneficiary, to the competent provincial office and to the OP APPAG, so that the preliminary verifications can be carried out to recognise the force majeure causes, invoked by the beneficiary, and to make the subsequent communication of authorisation, or rejection, to the variation request.

Therefore, in the five years following the date of the request for payment of the final balance, for the assets realised or purchased thanks to the public contribution received, it is mandatory and compulsory to comply with the constraint set forth in Article 71 of Regulation (EU) 1303/2013.

The asset must maintain its intended use, nature and the specific purpose for which it was made. In cases of force majeure and exceptional circumstances, Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 shall apply, as well as the provisions of the Operating Instructions of APPAG.

Pursuant to articles 3 (Beneficiaries) and 5 (Definition of support) of the Ministerial Decree dated 2 December 2024 no. 635212, the following entities are authorised to submit an application for Community support for investments

1. MICRO-Enterprises, SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES as defined under Article 2, paragraph 1 of Title I of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC, dated 06 May 2003, whose activity is at least one of the following

(a) the production of grape must obtained by processing fresh grapes which they have themselves obtained, purchased or contributed by their members, including for the purpose of marketing it

(b) the production of wine obtained from the processing of fresh grapes or grape must which they have themselves obtained, purchased or contributed by their members, including for the purpose of marketing it

(c) the processing, ageing and/or packaging of wine, conferred by members and/or purchased, also with a view to its marketing. Undertakings carrying out only the marketing of the supported products are excluded from the contribution;

(d) the production of wine through the processing of their own grapes by third party winemakers, where the application is for the setting up ex novo of a processing plant or wine infrastructure, including for the purpose of marketing.

2. INTERMEDIATE ENTERPRISES employing less than 750 employees or whose annual turnover does not exceed EUR 200 million, whose classification is not indicated in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 06 May 2003, but is also provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 in Article 50(2). Whose intended activity is at least one of the following:

(a) the production of grape must obtained from the processing of fresh grapes obtained by them, purchased or contributed by their members, including for the purpose of marketing it;

(b) the production of wine obtained from the processing of fresh grapes or grape must which they have themselves obtained, purchased or contributed by their members, including for the purpose of marketing it

(c) the processing, ageing and/or packaging of wine, conferred by members and/or purchased, also with a view to its marketing. Undertakings carrying out only the marketing of the supported products are excluded from the contribution;

(d) the production of wine through the processing of their own grapes by third party winemakers, where the application is for the setting up ex novo of a processing plant or wine infrastructure, including for the purpose of marketing.

3. LARGE ENTERPRISES employing more than 750 employees or whose annual turnover exceeds €200 million. Whose planned activity is at least one of the following

(a) the production of grape must obtained from the processing of fresh grapes which they themselves have obtained, purchased or contributed by their members, including for the purpose of marketing it;

(b) the production of wine obtained from the processing of fresh grapes or grape must which they have themselves obtained, purchased or contributed by their members, including for the purpose of marketing it

(c) the processing, ageing and/or packaging of wine, conferred by members and/or purchased, also with a view to its marketing. Undertakings carrying out only the marketing of the supported products are excluded from the contribution;

(d) the production of wine through the processing of their own grapes by third party winemakers, where the application is for the setting up ex novo of a processing plant or wine infrastructure, including for the purpose of marketing.

The applicant/beneficiary must submit the application for aid exclusively in telematic form, under penalty of inadmissibility, using the online functions made available by OP APPAG on the SRTrento portal(https://Srt.infotn.it/), which can also be reached from the portal https://a4g.provincia.tn.it/, in one of the following ways

a) independently by the beneficiary;
b) through an Authorised Agricultural Assistance Centre (CAA) accredited by OP APPAG, after having conferred a proxy;
c) through an accredited freelance professional, after conferring a proxy.

Applications, in order to benefit from funding, must be submitted to the competent Paying Agency - APPAG, according to the procedures established by the same with its own circulars/operational instructions.

Aid applications must be submitted exclusively electronically through the appropriate service made available on the SRTrento portal(https://srt.infotn.it/) using the prescribed IT procedure.

Applicants may submit only one aid application.

The deadline for submitting aid applications for the 2025/2026 marketing year has been extended to 13 June 2025.

The aid application must be accompanied by the documentation required by APPAG in its own circulars/operational instructions.

For the purposes of verifying that the project is not a simple replacement, the following must be attached to the aid application

• the company asset register, for companies obliged by civil and fiscal law to keep it;
• the company layout, as a graphic representation with the exact location of each individual tank purchased within the target environment. Through a specific function of the telematic register (Sian), the company will be able to acquire the layout in graphic format of the plant together with the registration of the tanks. According to the provisions of Law 12 December 2016, no. 238 at art. 9 paragraphs 2 and 3, "The owners of wine cellars or wine establishments with a total capacity of more than 100 hectolitres, exempted from the obligation to submit the planimetry of the premises to the Customs and Monopolies Agency, shall transmit to the territorial office the planimetry of the premises of the establishment and its appurtenances, in which the location of the individual containers with a capacity of more than 10 hectolitres must be specified; the plan shall be accompanied by a legend showing, for each receptacle with a capacity exceeding 10 hectolitres, the alphanumeric identification code and the capacity." A copy of the layout shall be submitted to the Customs Agency. Mobile equipment shall not be represented graphically, but only with the asset book.
• If necessary, the officer may check the provincial database - up to the previous 5 years - to ensure that the asset, for which the subsidy is requested, is not a mere replacement.

If appropriate, the official may provide for ex-ante checks on the eligibility for aid of the project at the farm.

Among the new features set out in APPAG Operating Instructions No. 1/2025 is that:

The applicant/beneficiary must submit the aid application exclusively in telematic form, under penalty of inadmissibility, using the on-line functions made available by

made available by OP APPAG on the SRTrento portal(https://Srt.infotn.it/), also accessible from the portal https://a4g.provincia.tn.it/.

A user manual for the submission of the application for support.

Some important aspects foreseen by APPAG's operating instructions concern:

The Chamber of Commerce (C.C.I.A.A.) certificate of the supplier, dated after DM 635212 of 2 December 2024, must be attached to each quotation.

Quotations:

• three mutually comparable quotations from specialised and independent bidding companies (no longer required to be 3 manufacturers or 3 resellers)
• price of the individual good separate from transport costs. (transport costs not eligible);
• stamp and digital signature of the bidding company (legal representative or delegated person). If there is no digital signature, i.e. handwritten signature, a copy of the signatory's identity document must be attached to the application.