La Rioja will pay 750 euros per member to size agricultural cooperatives

The Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural World and Environment of the Government of La Rioja has approved the regulatory bases and the 2026 call for de minimis aid intended to boost the scaling of cooperatives for the common exploitation of land. The regulation, Order AGM/50/2026, of October 27, is published in the Official Gazette of La Rioja no. 209, of October 29, 2026 (pp. 18036 to 18041), within section I of General Provisions and with the official reference BOR-A-20261029-I–86.

The aid consists of a fixed amount of 750 euros per member who is part of the cooperative as of the date of publication of the call, with a maximum of 50,000 euros per beneficiary in any three-year period, in accordance with article 3.2 of Commission Regulation (EU) no. 1408/2013 of December 18, 2013. The call is resolved through a direct grant procedure and is charged to budget item 0503.4121.47504 (‘Aid to cooperatives for the community exploitation of land’), project 60001, of the 2026 regional budgets.

Requirements: registration, thirty members, and five fiscal years

Article 3 of the order limits access to cooperatives for the community exploitation of land registered in the Register of Cooperatives of the Autonomous Community of La Rioja, which must prove:

• At least 30 members at the time of the call.
• Activity maintained during the last five fiscal years.
• Being up to date with tax and Social Security obligations.
• Not having been subject to a final sanction for a serious or very serious infringement of Law 12/2013 on the food chain in the previous two years.
• Not having been subject to a final sanction for the illegal use of water on plots of the Register of Agricultural Holdings owned by the cooperative.

The regulation recalls that this figure is regulated in article 114 of Law 4/2001, of July 2, on Cooperatives of La Rioja, and corresponds to a model in which owners do not sell the land, but rather cede its use to the cooperative, which organizes the exploitation and distributes profits according to the bylaws.

Five business days to apply for the grant

Applications must be submitted mandatorily electronically through the electronic office of the Government of La Rioja, using the model from the agriculture aid catalog, within five business days following the publication of the summary of the call in the BOR. Along with the request, an updated certificate from the register of cooperatives with the number of members and a declaration of activity for the previous five years must be provided.

The instruction corresponds to the General Directorate of Rural Development, and the granting and payment to the holder of the regional ministry. If the application presents defects, a period of ten business days will be opened for correction; the proposed resolution and the resolution for granting and payment will likewise be published in the BOR, with ten business days for allegations and one month for the appeal for reversal.

150,000 euros expandable and European control of limits

The sole additional provision sets the initial expenditure at 150,000 euros, an amount that may be increased indefinitely under Article 23 bis of Decree 14/2006. At 750 euros per partner, the initial credit would cover payments corresponding to approximately 200 partners.

The regional ministry will verify ex officio, through consultation with the National Grants Database, that the limits of the de minimis regime are not exceeded, in accordance with Royal Decree 1139/2024, of November 11, and Regulation (EU) 2024/3118. The grants are incompatible with any other for the same purpose, and non-compliance requires the reimbursement of the amounts with late-payment interest. The order is framed within line 17 of Order HGS/63/2024, of September 4, and line 1.1.12 of the Strategic Grants Plan 2026-2028, modified by Resolution 1493/2026, of August 26. It is signed by the regional minister Noemí Manzanos Martínez, and the regulation enters into force the day after its publication.

Public support arrives in a context of high input prices and an aging rural population in La Rioja, where small family farms predominate. The order expressly links cooperative growth with generational renewal: integration into a cooperative allows for sharing machinery and costs, negotiating better prices, and accessing markets and training. The stimulus, however, is limited to already consolidated entities, as it requires 30 partners and five years of activity, meaning the call will act as a reward for the size achieved rather than as support for the establishment of new cooperatives.

Source: Official Gazette of La Rioja, no. 209, October 29, 2026, section I. General Provisions, pp. 18036-18041 (official reference: BOR-A-20261029-I–86).