No C 252/2 Official  Journal  of the  European  Communities 30.9.  80 
The notification  of State  aids  to the  Commission  pursuant  to Article  93 (3) of the  EEC 
Treaty:  the failure  of Member  States  to respect  their  obligations 
Article  93 (3) of the  EEC  Treaty  requires  that  all 
plans  to grant  or alter  aid by Member  States  shall  be 
notified  to the  Commission  before  they  are  put  into 
effect  and  in sufficient  time  to enable  the Commission 
to submit  its comments  and,  as appropriate,  open  the 
administrative  procedure  provided  for  in Article 
93 (2) against  the  measure  proposed.  The  opening  of 
such  a procedure  has  a suspensive  effect  and  the 
national  measure  in question  cannot  be  put  into 
operation  unless  and  until  the  Commission  approves 
it. 
Increasingly  in the  course  of the  last  months  the 
Commission  has  become  concerned  about  the  extent 
to which  certain  Member  States  do not  comply  fully 
with  their  obligations  in this  respect  either  by failing 
to notify  or not  notifying  in due  time.  The  Court  of 
Justice  has  laid  down  in case  120/73  that  Member 
States  must  allow  the  Commission  a period  of two 
months  to conduct  its evaluation  of the  measure.  The 
Commission  has  therefore  decided  to use  all measures 
at its  disposal  to  ensure  that  Member  States' 
obligations  under  Article  93 (3) are respected.  To this 
end it has  written  to Member  States  recalling  to them 
their  obligations  and  informing  them  of its intention 
to require  due  respect  thereof  in the  future.  The 
general  part  of the text  of the letter  addressed  to each 
Member  State  is set  out  below  for  general  infor-
mation. 
On 2 October  1974,  at the  306th  meeting  of the 
Council  of Ministers  in Luxemburg,  the  Governments 
of Member  States  declared  that  'the  rules  of the  EEC 
Treaty  regarding  aids  (Articles  92 and  93)  shall  be 
strictly  observed  both  with  respect  to existing  and 
future  aid  measures'.  Notwithstanding  this 
declaration,  the  Commission  has  become  increasingly 
aware  of a growing  tendency,  particularly  marked  in 
the case  of certain  Member  States,  not  to fulfil  the 
obligations  laid  down  by Article  93 (3) in respect  of 
notification  of  aid  cases  and  their  non-
implementation  during  the  time  allotted  to  the 
Commission  to evaluate  their  compatibility  with  the 
Treaty. 
Cases  of non-notification  or late  notification  (i.e. 
without  giving  the  Commission  the  benefit  of the necessary  period  to evaluate  the  aid  before  it is 
wished  to implement  the  measure)  have  ceased  to be 
isolated.  Indeed  the  extent  of the  tendency  towards 
non-notification  or late  notification  would  appear  in 
some  cases  to indicate  the  possible  existence  of a 
general  decision  not  to respect  the  provisions  in 
question. 
The Commission  is aware  that,  particularly  in the 
recent  past,  Governments  have  frequently  been  under 
extreme  pressure  to  intervene  in  the  normal 
commercial  processes  by means  of subsidies  and  that 
the number  of  cases  which  are  subject  to  the 
notification  procedure  has  grown  as a consequence. 
However,  the  Treaty  established  these  aid procedures 
for a well-founded  reason  which,  in principle,  is 
supported  by all concerned,  namely  that  one  firm's 
subsidy  may  be  the  unemployment  of  another's 
workforce.  Repeatedly  in the  course  of its exam-
ination  of aid  cases  the  Commission  is made  aware 
how much  competitors  resent  the  granting  of 
subsidies  to  firms  in  other  Member  States. 
Governments  are  no  less  critical  of the  subsidies 
granted  by others. 
I have  therefore  to inform  you  that  the  Commission 
considers  that  it is absolutely  necessary  to apply  the 
provisions  of Article  93 (3) to their  full  extent.  Thus 
the Commission  insists  that  plans  to grant  or alter  aid 
shall  be notified  in due  time,  i.e. at least  two  months 
or, as the case  may  be, 30 days  before  their  projected 
entry  into  force  and  that  no payments  be made  in 
violation  of  the  provisions  of  Article  93  (3). 
Henceforth,  any  evidence  of a tendency  to systematic 
or flagrant  violation  of Member  States'  obligations 
will be systematically  pursued  by virtue  of Article  169 
of the Treaty  or other  measures  envisaged  therein. 
Further,  the  Commission  would  recall  that  the  Court 
of Justice  has  held  that  'for  projects  introducing  new 
aids or altering  existing  ones,  the  last  sentence  of 
Article  93 (3) establishes  procedural  criteria  which  the 
national  court  can  appraise'  (see  case  77/72, 
Capolongo  v. Maya,  1973  European  Court  Reports 
611 at paragraph  6).