2002/186/EC: Commission Decision of 10 October 2001 on the State aid implemented by Germany for Zeitzer Maschinen, Anlagen, Geräte ZEMAG GmbH (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2001) 2957)

• Articles: 4

Article 1

The State aid which Germany has implemented for Zeitzer Maschinen, Anlagen, Geräte ZEMAG GmbH, amounting to DEM 26,6 million, is incompatible with the common market.

Article 2

1. Germany shall take all necessary measures to recover from the beneficiary the aid referred to in Article 1 and unlawfully made available to the beneficiary.

2. Recovery shall be effected without delay and in accordance with the procedures of national law provided that they allow the immediate and effective execution of the decision. The aid to be recovered shall include interest from the date on which it was at the disposal of the beneficiary until the date of its recovery. Interest shall be calculated on the basis of the reference rate used for calculating the grant equivalent of regional aid.

Article 3

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

Article 4

This Decision is addressed to the Federal Republic of Germany.

Done at Brussels, 10 October 2001.

For the Commission

Mario Monti

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ C 133, 5.5.2001, p. 3.

(2) OJ L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 1.

(3) See footnote 1.

(4) OJ L 107, 30.4.1996, p. 4; see in particular Annex, Article 1(1) and (6).

(5) According to Germany, the workforce agreed to work for another three years without any increase in salary (saving of DEM 600000) and without any Christmas or holiday bonus (saving of DEM 1,5 million). As quid pro quo, they would become shareholders in the firm.

(6) Panorama of EU Industry 1999.

(7) On 28 March 2001 the Commission took a partly negative decision on aid for LINTRA and its subsidiaries. Germany was required to recover from them an amount of DEM 34,978 million. The amount of misused aid granted to ZEMAG totals DEM 6,37 million.

(8) See inter alia Joined Cases T-132/96 and T-143/96 Freistaat Sachsen v Commission [1999] ECR II-3663.

(9) Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty (OJ C 368, 23.12.1994): the guidelines were revised in 1999 (OJ C 288, 9.10.1999, p. 2). The new version of the guidelines is not applicable here since all the aid was granted before the revised guidelines were published (see Section 7 of the 1999 version).

(10) 24th general plan of the Federal Government/Länder joint programme for improving regional economic structures (Aid N 531/95).

(11) To this end, the two guarantees granted in 1997 by the BvS should be converted into a guarantee of the Land of Saxony-Anhalt. This guarantee should be granted on the basis of an aid scheme previously approved by the Commission.