The end user is the entity or person who ultimately receives the support, even though someone else holds the contractual relationship with the provider. A typical example is a national project in which the beneficiary is a state organisation and the end users are companies, municipalities or citizens who receive a service, equipment or contribution from it. This distinction has practical consequences. The beneficiary is responsible for eligibility and reporting, but the end user must meet its own conditions, for example, not being an undertaking in difficulty, and the benefit received counts towards its state aid limit. Companies often do not realise that a service provided free of charge from a national project fills up part of their de minimis limit, and they run into this when submitting their own application later.
See also: Beneficiary, De minimis aid scheme, National project.
