2002/822/ECSC: Commission decision of 30 January 2002 on the State aid granted by Spain to a number of steel undertakings in the Basque Country (Text with EEA relevance.) (notified under document number C(2002) 309)

• Articles: 5

Article 1

The State aid which Spain has granted to Acería Compacta de Bizcaia SA and Aceralia Corporación Siderúrgica SA (EUR 210955), Aceros Inoxidables Olarra SA (EUR 30177), Grupo Siderúrgico Vasco "GSB Acero" SA (EUR 47077), Nervacero SA (EUR 20014) and Siderúrgica Aristrain Olaberría SL (EUR 23526) is compatible with the common market.

Article 2

The State aid which Spain has granted to Acería de Álava SA (EUR 128871), Esteban Orbegozo SA (EUR 34175), Marcial Ucín Siderúrgica SL (EUR 13951) and Tubos Reunidos SA (EUR 26338) is incompatible with the common market.

Article 3

1. Spain shall take all necessary measures to recover from the beneficiaries the aid referred to in Article 2 and unlawfully made available to the beneficiaries.

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 beneficiaries 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 4

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

Article 5

This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Spain.

Done at Brussels, 30 January 2002.

For the Commission

Mario Monti

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 338, 28.12.1996, p. 42.

(2) OJ C 185, 30.6.2001, p. 41.

(3) BOPV (Official Gazette of the Basque Country) No 1997147, 4.8.1997, p. 13174.

(4) Letter SG (97) D/6942 of 12 August 1997.

(5) It can be seen from the documentation transmitted that the application form requires the companies to provide, among other things, the following information for the period 1996 to 1999: turnover; personnel assigned to R& D; total R& D expenditure. This is therefore in line with the commitment of the Basque regional government to take these factors into account in determining the incentive effect.

(6) As published in OJ C 45, 17.2.1996, p. 5.

(7) In the present case the "Medium-term guidelines of the ECSC steel R& D programme for research and pilot/demonstration projects, improved materials and production technology in the steel field" undertaken as part of the Community's fifth framework programme.