1999/398/EC: Commission Decision of 2 December 1998 concerning State aid granted by the region of Friuli- Venezia Giulia and the Italian Government to Seleco (notified under document number C(1998) 4035) (Text with EEA relevance) (Only the Italian text is authentic)

• Articles: 3

Article 1

Italy shall provide the Commission, within 15 working days of being notified of this decision, with all the information necessary to allow it to assess the compatibility with the common market of the aid granted to Seleco by the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia through Friulia SpA and by the Italian State through the financial institution Ristritturazione Elettronica and a number of public banks, as well as by other means.

Article 2

1. Italy shall supply the information requested by letters of 18 February 1998 and 29 September 1998.

2. Italy also hereby requested:

(a) to list any other aid granted to Seleco in addition to that referred to in the decision initiating proceedings under Article 93(2) and in the decision extending the proceedings, notified to the Italian Government by letter of 18 February 1998;

(b) to state the economic and commercial reasons, if any, which prompted Seleco in 1996 to hive off some of its assets and place them in another company, Seleco Multimedia, and to give details of the parent company's balance-sheet position at the time of the hive-off operation. A detailed report should also be submitted on changes in the shareholding structure of Seleco Multimedia from the time it was set up to the present;

(c) to state whether, before the company was declared bankrupt, it was subject to supervision within the meaning of Articles 187 et seq. of Decree No 267 of 16 March 1942 (Bankruptcy Law) or whether it pursued its business activities on the basis of a court-approved creditors' agreement within the meaning of Article 160 et seq. of the Bankruptcy Law. In either case, a report should be submitted on Seleco's activities, as well as a list of the creditors sitting on the committee set up under the supervision or creditors' arrangements and a copy of the minutes of the meetings of that committee relating to the discussion and acceptance of supervision or participation in the creditors' agreement, with an indication of the amounts owed to the State by Seleco in the form of taxes, social security contributions or public funds for workers;

(d) if the company was not placed under a supervision or creditors' arrangement, to give a description of the circumstances in which bankruptcy was declared in 1997, together with details of any amounts owed to the State by Seleco in the form of taxes, social security contributions or public funds for workers; to specify the applicant and provide a copy of the adjudication of bankruptcy, a list of creditors, the amounts owed to them and their respective ranking. In addition, the current status of the bankruptcy proceedings should be indicated and details concerning any applications for review given;

(e) to submit a detailed report on all commercial and financial activities undertaken by Seleco following the declaration of bankruptcy. If appropriate, Italy should provide, alongside a description of the legal basis invoked and the underlying economic reasons, (i) a list of creditors participating in any committee of creditors and a copy of the opinions given by that committee on the question of starting and continuing such activities, and (ii) the amounts owed by Seleco to the State in the form of taxes, social security contributions or public funds for workers;

(f) to provide a detailed description of the liquidation of Seleco's assets from the date of declaration of bankruptcy until now, as well as the conditions and arrangements for the transfer of its commercial assets;

(g) to describe the conditions and arrangements for the distribution among the creditors of the bankruptcy of revenue from the sale of the assets of Seleco. If the distribution is based on a court-approved arrangement with creditors, the underlying economic reasons should be given, together with a copy of the proposed arrangement, the minutes of the meeting at which the creditors' committee accepted the arrangement, and the decision of the court approving the said arrangement.

Article 3

This decision is addressed to the Italian Government.

Done at Brussels, 2 December 1998.

For the Commission

Karel VAN MIERT

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ C 373, 29.12.1994, p. 5; OJ C 155, 20.5.1998, p. 24.

(2) In Decision C 20/91 (OJ C 166, 3.7.1992, p. 6), the Commission approved aid granted by REL to a dozen firms in the consumer electronics industry, the largest of which was Seleco.

(3) Public body for the reconstruction of the consumer electronics industry in Italy, whose activities were the subject of the decisions of 17 January 1984 and 17 September 1985.

(4) Decision of 4 February 1998 (OJ C 155, 20.5.1998, p. 24).

(5) Case C-301/87 Boussac [1990] ECR I-307; Joined Cases C-324 and 342/90 Germany and Pleuger Werthington v. Commission [1994] ECR I-1173.