42 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
28.11.64 OFFICIALJOURNALOFTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIES 3257/64
COMMISSION DECISION
of28October1964
ontheabolitionbytheKingdomofBelgiumoftheaidgrantedtoFordTractor(Bel­
gium)Ltd,Antwerp1
(OnlytheDutchandFrenchtextsareauthentic)
(64/651/EEC)
natingforseveralyears;whereasthissituationis
reflectedinthefollowingstatistics:
-between1959and1963annualCommunitypro­
ductionfellfrom236300to217320units;
-inFrance,afterreaching92300unitsin1958,pro­
ductionfellto68590in1963,andonly60%of
productioncapacityisbeingusedatpresent;THECOMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN
ECONOMIC COMMUNITY ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuro­
peanEconomicCommunity,andinparticularthe
firstsubparagraphofArticle93(2)thereof;
Havingregardtothewrittenandoralobservations
ofMemberStates,andthoseofFordTractor(Bel­
gium)Ltd,Antwerp;
I-intheFederalRepublicofGermanyproduction
fellfrom118400unitsin1958to95730unitsin
1963;inthesameperiodfiveGermanundertakings
ceasedproducingagriculturaltractors;
-onlyinItaly,theMemberStatewiththesmallest
output,hasproductionincreased,risinginthe
sameperiodfrom25600to53000units;
IIWhereasFordTractor(Belgium)Ltd,Antwerp,had
contractedaten-yearloanofathousandmillionBel­
gianfrancswithaprivatecreditinstitutionandob­
tainedfromtheBelgianGovernmentaninterest
rebateof3-5%calculatedintermsofanotionalsix­
yearamortizationperiod,thelastannualredemption
paymentbeingfixedat700millionBelgianfrancs;
WhereasthisaidwasgrantedundertheLawof17
July1959establishingandcoordinatingmeasuresto
encourageeconomicexpansionandthecreationof
newindustries;whereasitwasgrantedinorderto
assistintheconversionoftheproductionprogramme
oftheFordCompanyinAntwerp,whichwillcease
completelytoassemblecarsandtrucksanddevote
itsactivitiesinthefuture .' to
assemblingagriculturaltractorsandWhereastheaidwasgrantedbytheBelgianState;
whereastheinterestrebatewill,attheendofsix
years,amounttoabout170millionBelgianfrancs;
whereasitmaycarryataxexemptiontheamountof
whichcannotbecalculatedatpresent;
Whereastheaidgrantedthreatenstodistortcompeti­
tionbetweentractormanufacturers ,inparticularto
thedetrimentofthoseestablishedinFranceandGer­
manywhoseproductionhasbeenstationaryorre­
gressiveforseveralyears;whereasitspurposeisto
relievetherecipientcompanyofpartoftheexpendi­
turewhichitwouldnormallyhavetobearforthe
installationandinitialoperationofanewproduction
unit;
Whereastheabolitionofallquotasandtheprogress
sivereductionofcustomsdutiesontractorstendto
makeallmanufacturers establishedintheCommu­
nitymoresensitivetotheeffectofaidgrantedtoany
oneofthem;whereaswhilethehigh-poweredtrac­
torswhichwillbemanufacturedinAntwerpwillnot
satisfythesamedemandas-low-poweredtractors,
bothtypesareproducedbymostGermanandFrenchandtothemanufactureofgearboxesandrear-axles
foragriculturaltractors;
Whereasbyvirtueoftheinterest'rebategrantedto
itFordTractor(Belgium)Ltd,Antwerp,isentitled,
underArticle8oftheLawof17July1959,toexemp­
tionforfiveyearsfrompropertytaxonanybuild­
ingsconstructedundertheconversionproject;
Whereastheproductionofagriculturaltractorsin
theEuropeanEconomicCommunityhasbeenstag­
1CertainpassagesofthisDecisionhavebeenomitted
owingtotheconfidentialinformationcontainedtherein
relatingtotheundertakingconcerned.

OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 43
Whereasproductioncapacityinthecommonmarket
foragriculturaltractorsisnotlowerthandemand;
whereascertainundertakingsalreadyestablishedin
theCommunityhaveahighdegreeoftechnicaldevel­
opment;whereasinthesecircumstances aid,toen­
couragethecreationofanewproductionunitisnot
justifiedbytheneedtoincreasesuppliesormake
thesectormoreefficientbystimulatingcompetition;
whereasthereasonforgivingaidfortheinstallation
inAntwerpofafactoryforthemanufactureofaxles
andgearboxesfortractorsandfortheassemblyof
tractorscannotbetheeconomicsituationinthere­
gionofAntwerpwhichisprosperouscomparedwith
manyotherregionsoftheCommunity;whereasaid
canonlyaggravatethealreadydifficultconditionsfor
Communitytractorproduction;
Whereas,therefore,althoughaidmaycontributeto
thedevelopmentofagriculturaltractorproduction,
andindeedtothedevelopmentoftheregionofAnt­
werp,notonlyisapplicationofArticle92(3)(c)
notdesirablebecauseaidisnotinthecommoninter­
est,butitisoutofthequestionbecauseitinterferes
withtradingconditionstoanextentcontrarytothe
commoninterest;
Whereas,consequently ,theaidgrantedtoFordTrac­
tor(Belgium)Ltd,Antwerp,isincompatiblewiththe
commonmarketandmustthereforebeabolished;
Whereasthefirstsubparagraph ofArticle93(2)
empowerstheCommisiontofixatimelimitforsuch
abolition;whereastheBelgianGovernmentshould
beallowedtocontinueitsaidforoneyear,ifitcon­
sidersthisnecessary,toenableFordTractor(Bel­
gium)Ltd,Antwerp,tomeetitsnormalfinancialand
taxcommitments ,manufacturers ;whereastheinterestsofthesemanu­
facturersareliabletobeprejudicedallthemoreif
theshiftindemandtowardshigh-poweredtractors
expectedbyFordTractor(Belgium)Ltd,Antwerp,
issubstantialandrapid;
Whereasuntilnowtherehasbeennotractorproduc­
tioninBelgium;whereastheaidgrantedwillhave
directeffectsoncompetitionbetweenFordTractor
(Belgium)Ltd,Antwerp,andundertakingsestab­
lishedinotherMemberStates;whereassuchaidwill
affectnotonlyBelgianimportsoftractorsfromMem­
berStates,whichin1962amountedto7252units,
butalsotradethroughouttheCommunity,becauseof
theproposedhighrateofproduction ;
Whereasthenumberofagriculturaltractorsitis
intendedtomanufactureinAntwerpisclosetothat
ofthesametypeoftractorimportedbytheFord
CompanyintotheCommunityitrecentyears,sothat
theFordCompanywouldsimplymaintainitstradi­
tionalshareofthetractormarketintheEuropean
EconomicCommunitywithoutalteringthebalance
ofthemarket;whereas,however,evenifsuchequi­
valenceisachieved,therewillstillbedistortionof
competitionbetweentherecipientcompanyandthe
othertractormanufacturers establishedintheEuro­
peanEconomicCommunity ;
WhereasthisisameasurewhichfallsunderArticle
92(1);.
WhereastheprovisionsofArticle92(2)clearlydo
notapplyinthiscase;
WhereastheconditionsrequiredtoenabletheCom­
missiontoenvisagetheapplicationoftheprovisions
ofArticle92(3)(a)and(b)arenotmet;
WhereasthestandardoflivingintheregionofAnt­
werpisnotabnormallylow;whereas,furthermore,
on31December1963theunemployment figuresfor
menandwomenofnormal,partialorlowemploya­
bilitywererespectively 3068,4368and2752per­
sonswhichrepresents1-06%,1-51%and0-95%of
employedpersonsintheregion;whereasatthesame
timetherewere1306unfilledvacancies;whereas
thesefiguresdonotrepresentseriousunderemploy­
ment,norwouldtherehave,beensuchunderemploy­
mentfollowingthedismissalof2000employeesif
theFordCompanyinAntwerphadabandonedits
conversionprojectandcloseddown;
WhereastheBelgianeconomyisnotaffectedbyany
seriousdisturbance;whereasneithertheconversion
undertakenbytheFordCompanyinAntwerpnor
themanufactureofhigh-powered tractorsareim­
portantprojectsofcommonEuropeaninterestwithin
themeaningofArticle92(3)(b);HASADOPTEDTHISDECISION :
Article1
TheKingdomofBelgiumshall,notlaterthan31Oc­
tober1965,takeallnecessarystepstoabolishall
formsofaidtoFordTractor(Belgium)Ltd,Ant­
werp,inapplicationoftheLawof17July1959
establishingandcoordinatingmeasurestoencourage
economicexpansionandthecreationofnewindus­
tries.
Article2
ThisDecisionisaddressedtotheKingdomofBel­
gium.
DoneatBrussels,28October1964.
FortheCommission
ThePresident
WalterHALLSTEIN