458 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM scope of the decisions above and other ones with less relevance for the present topic116, the Portuguese State has also notified the Commission of additional measures under the Temporary Framework which are subsidised by the regional budgets of the Azores and Madeira117, as explained further hereunder in F.2.1.4 and F.2.1.5. F.2.1.4. Notification of aid scheme for undertakings in Azores In what concerns measures being implemented by the Azores Regional government118 and notified by the Portuguese State, the same correspond to aid in the form of wage subsidies119, aimed at preserving employment by avoiding employees’ lay-offs when most business activities were suspended or significantly reduced due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The overall amount of the same measures is estimated to reach 43 million euros120. These aid schemes intended to contribute to the wage costs of undertakings during the months of March and April 2020 (subject to a possible extension for up to two months, i.e., for wage costs due in May and June 2020). They thus benefit the undertakings in the Azores which were employers, irrespective of their size, and active in sectors which the authorities consider to have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and sanitary measures and 116 They concerned notably aid to fishery and aquaculture and investment in research, development, testing and production of coronavirus relevant products, respectively cases SA.56886 and SA.57035. 117 According to article 227 (i) j) “In accordance with the terms of their statutes and the law governing the finances of the autonomous regions, to dispose of the tax revenues collected or generated in the autonomous region, as well as of a part of the state’s tax revenues determined in accordance with a principle that ensures effective national solidarity, and of other revenues that are allocated to them, and to appropriate those revenues to their expenditure”. See above note 13 and following on the nature of Autonomous Regions. 118 State Aid SA.57049 (2020/N) – Portugal COVID-19: Temporary Framework measure to preserve employment on the Azores Islands I (“Medida extraordinária de apoio à manutenção do emprego para antecipação de liquidez nas empresas no mês de abril de 2020”), and State Aid SA.57050 (2020/N) – Portugal COVID-19: Temporary Framework measure to preserve employment on the Azores Islands II (in full title “Complemento Regional ao apoio extraordinário à manutenção de contrato de trabalho em situação de crise”). According to both decisions, each of the notified measures aims at complementing the other one. Even though the financing of the measures was estimated to be the Azorean Regional Employment Fund, the Portuguese authorities raised the possibility for a co-financing by the European Social Fund, due to “a possible reprogramming of the Azores 2020 Operational Programme, due to the COVID-19 outbreak”. 119 Pursuant to section 3.10 of the Temporary Framework – Aid in form of wage subsidies for employees to avoid lay-offs during the COVID-19 outbreak. 120 The Commission decision observed that “Portugal has started to grant the aid according to the notified scheme before the Commission has adopted its decision on the notified scheme [recital (12)]. The Commission regrets that Portugal put the aid according to the notified scheme into effect, in breach of Article 108(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. However, it has decided, on the basis of the foregoing assessment [notably the COVID-19 exceptionality and the impact in the Azorean economy] not to raise objections to the aid on the grounds that it is compatible with the internal market, pursuant to Article 107(3)(c) TFEU.” [paragraph (34) of the decision].
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