72/173/EEC: Commission Decision of 26 April 1972 concerning aid granted pursuant to the Belgian Law of 30 December 1970 on economic expansion (Only the French and Dutch texts are authentic)

• Articles: 6

Article 1

The Kingdom of Belgium shall forthwith take the measures required to modify the system of regional aid provided for in the Law of 30 December 1970 on economic expansion so that aid is granted only: - to the following regions, within areas to be determined nationally ; in the province of Antwerpen, the arrondissement of Turnhout ; in the province of West-Vlaanderen, the arrondissements of Diksmuide, Ieper, Tielt and Veurne ; in the province of Oost-Vlaanderen, the arrondissements of Eeklo and Oudenaerde ; in the province of Hainaut, the arrondissements of Ath, Charleroi, Mons, Mouscron, Soignies and Thuin ; in the province of Liège, the arrondissements of Huy, Liège, Verviers and Waremme ; in the province of Limburg, the arrondissements of Hasselt, Maaseik and Tongeren ; in the province of Luxembourg, the arrondissements of Arlon, Bastogne, Marche, Neufchâteau and Virton ; in the province of Namur, the arrondissements of Dinant, Namur and Philippeville;

- to the following areas: - by way of extension to the arrondissement of Turnhout, the area covering the communes of Oostmalle and Westmalle;

- by way of extension to the district of Turnhout and the province of Limburg, the area covering the communes of Aarschot, Averbode, Begijnnendijk, Betekom, Booischot, Diest, Heist-op-den-Berg, Langdorp, Messelbroek, Molenstede, Rillaar, Scherpenheuvel, Testelt, Webbekom, Wiekevorst, Zichem;

- by way of extension to the arrondissement of Oudenaerde, the area covering the communes of Appelterre-Eichem, Denderhoutem, Dederleeuw, Geraardsbergen, Grimmingen, Idegem, Iddergem, Moerbeke, Nederboelare, Nederhasselt, Ninove, Okegem, Onkerzeel, Outer, Schendelbeke, Viane, Zandbergen;

- by way of connection between the two parts of the district Mouscron, the area covering the communes of Aalbeke, Lauwe, Menen, Rekkem;

Regional aid may no longer be granted for new investments in the areas covered by the Laws on regional aid of 18 July 1959 and 14 July 1966 which do not coincide with the regions and areas listed above, nor in the other areas envisaged by the Kingdom of Belgium.

Article 2

Without prejudice to the review laid down in Article 93 (1) of the Treaty, the Kingdom of Belgium shall communicate to the Commission a fresh development areas plan to which all regional aid, whether abolished or not, covered by the Law of 30 December 1970 on economic expansion would apply, so that a further decision may be taken on this matter within two years.

The Kingdom of Belgium shall, as soon as possible, take measures necessary to group development areas into two categories according to the gravity of the regional problems and to make a similar differentiation in respect of maximum aid intensity. Such measures shall be communicated to the Commission in the form of proposals so that it may express its views on the matter.

Article 3

The granting of sectoral aid provided for in Article 5 of the Belgian Law of 30 December 1970 on economic expansion shall be subject to the following conditions: - the criteria and mode of application, which in accordance with the said Article 5 are to be the subject of an implementing regulation, must be communicated to the Commission beforehand so that it may express its views thereon;

- where sectoral aids are to be granted to a sector as a whole, the information concerning the establishment of a system of specific aid (the characteristic features of the sector, the problems requiring attention, the ends in view, and the mode of application and intensity of the aid) shall be communicated to the Commission beforehand so that it may express its view thereon;

- where sectoral aids are to be granted to part of a sector or to a limited number of undertakings, significant cases as defined in Article 4 shall be notified to the Commission beforehand so that it may express its views thereon.

Article 4

Cases in respect of which investment reaches or exceeds 100 million Belgian francs, irrespective of the size of the aid, and cases in respect of which the size of the aid equals or exceeds, in net subsidy-equivalent, 15 % of the amount of the investment, irrespective of the size of the investment, shall be regarded as significant cases of application of sectoral aid under the Belgian Law of 30 December 1970 on economic expansion.

Aid intensity shall be calculated according to the Community method of assessing aid as established for the purpose of applying regional aid coordination principles 1.

Article 5

This Decision shall not apply to regional and sectoral aid in respect of the production of and trade in products listed in Annex II to the Treaty.

Article 6

This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Belgium.

Done at Brussels, 26 April 1972.

For the Commission

The President

S.L. MANSHOLT 1Cf. Communication of the Commission to the Council concerning general systems of regional aid, Annex. Procedure for application of the principles of coordination of general systems of regional aid (OJ No C 111, 4.11.1971, p. 10).