Commission clears Italy's €1m Trentino aid for poultry and rabbit farms

The European Commission has raised no objections to a €1,000,000 Italian State aid scheme for poultry and rabbit farms in the Autonomous Province of Trento, under a decision adopted on 21 August 2026 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 25 September 2026. The clearance is registered as aid number SA.123657 and appears in the OJ under reference C/2026/4967, confirming that the measure complies with Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

A regional scheme for the poultry and rabbit sector

The authorisation is published in the C series of the Official Journal under the standard heading for State aid cases in which the Commission raises no objections. That list is the routine publication route for notified measures the Commission finds compatible with the internal market without opening a formal investigation, and publication gives the decision its public effect.

The measure is classified as a scheme rather than an individual award. Its stated objective covers agriculture, forestry and rural areas, with a specific focus on aid to the livestock sector, and its economic scope is limited to two activities: the raising of poultry and the raising of other animals, which in this case corresponds to rabbit farming. The scheme is therefore confined to the avicolo and cunicolo sectors of a single Italian province.

Budget, duration and form of aid

• Overall budget: €1,000,000.
• Form of aid: direct grant.
• Duration: until 31 December 2027.
• Type of measure: aid scheme.
• Member State: Italy.
• Region: Provincia Autonoma di Trento.

The scheme’s legal basis is article 42, “Agevolazioni per la zootecnia”, of the provincial law of 28 March 2003, no. 4, on agriculture, as subsequently amended and supplemented. That provincial law provides the framework under which the contributions to the livestock sector are granted.

The published notice states no aid intensity and names no individual beneficiary: the scheme is designed to fund a category of farms through a competitive call rather than a single undertaking.

Granting authority and the 2026 call

The body responsible for granting the aid is the Servizio Agricoltura, based at Via G.B. Trener, 3, 38121 Trento. The notified measure also covers the opening of the corresponding call for applications for the 2026 financial year, alongside the general criteria and implementing arrangements for the contributions.

The full title of the notified measure refers to the “Criteri generali e modalità attuative per la concessione dei contributi previsti dall’art. 42 ‘Agevolazioni per la zootecnia’ della legge provinciale 28 marzo 2003, n. 4 e successive modificazioni ed integrazioni (legge provinciale in materia di agricoltura), per il settore avicolo e cunicolo, e contestuale apertura del bando per l’annualità 2026.”

Where the decision is published

The authentic text of the decision, with all confidential information removed, can be consulted through the Commission’s competition case search. The document carries the European Legislation Identifier http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/4967/oj.

For poultry and rabbit producers in Trentino, the decision removes the remaining legal uncertainty around the provincial support scheme and allows the 2026 call to proceed. It commits up to €1,000,000 in direct grants over a period running to the end of 2027, giving the sector a multi-year funding horizon at a time when regional livestock farming faces pressure on costs and margins.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, C/2026/4967, 25 September 2026, C series (official reference: CELEX:C_202604967).