98/182/EC: Commission Decision of 30 July 1997 concerning aid granted by the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region (Italy) to road haulage companies in the Region (Only the Italian text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance)

• Articles: 7

Article 1

Subsidies granted under Laws No 28/1981 and No 4/1985 of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region (hereinafter referred to as 'the subsidies`) up to 1 July 1990 to companies exclusively engaged in transport operations at local, regional or national level do not constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 92(1) of the Treaty.

Article 2

The subsidies not covered by Article 1 of this Decision constitute aid within the meaning of Article 92(1) of the Treaty and are illegal since they were introduced in breach of Article 93(3).

Article 3

The subsidies for financing equipment specifically adapted for, and used solely for, combined transport constitute aid within the meaning of Article 92(1) of the Treaty but are compatible with the common market by virtue of Article 3(1)(e) of Regulation (EEC) No 1107/70.

Article 4

The subsidies granted from 1 July 1990 onwards to companies engaged in transport operations at a local, regional or national level and to companies engaged in transport operations at an international level are incompatible with the common market since they do not fulfil any of the conditions for derogation provided for in Article 92(2) and (3) of the Treaty, or the conditions provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 1107/70.

Article 5

Italy shall abolish and recover the aid referred to in Article 4. The aid shall be reimbursed in accordance with the provisions of domestic law, together with interest, calculated by applying the reference rates used for assessment of regional aid, as from the date on which the aid was granted and ending on the date on which it is actually repaid.

Article 6

Italy shall inform the Commission within two months of the date of notification of this Decision of the measures taken to comply with it.

Article 7

This Decision is addressed to the Italian Republic

Done at Brussels, 30 July 1997.

For the Commission

Emma BONINO

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ C 98, 26. 3. 1997, p. 16.

(2) OJ C 98, 26. 3. 1997, p. 16.

(3) OJ L 390, 30. 12. 1989, p. 3.

(4) OJ L 279, 12. 11. 1993, p. 1.

(5) OJ L 175, 23. 7. 1968, p. 13.

(6) OJ L 95, 9. 4. 1992, p. 1.

(7) Data obtained from an article on road haulage operations in 1993 published in the July-September 1995 issue of the quarterly review Sistemi di Trasporto.

(8) Judgments of the Court of Justice in Case C-323/82 Intermills v. Commission [1984] ECR 3809 and in Case C-284/84 Germany v. Commission [1987] ECR 4013.

(9) OJ L 373, 21. 12. 1992, p. 4.

(10) [1969] ECR 523.

(11) OJ C 213, 19. 8. 1992, p. 2.

(12) OJ C 213, 23. 7. 1996, p. 4, and OJ C 68, 6. 3. 1996, p. 9.

(13) OJ L 130, 15. 6. 1970, p. 1.

(14) OJ L 84, 26. 3. 1997, p. 6.

(15) OJ L 184, 29. 6. 1982, p. 1.

(16) OJ L 116, 28. 4. 1989, p. 24.

(17) OJ L 364, 12. 12. 1992, p. 11.

(18) [1995] ECR II-1679.

(19) OJ C 318, 24. 11. 1983, p. 3.