No C 67/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 17. 3. 90 
STATE AID 
NN 76/88 
(Italy) 
(Articles 92 to 94 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community) 
(90/C 67/07) 
Commission communication pursuant to Article 6 (4) of 
Decision 3484/85/ECSC to other Member States and 
interested parties concerning aids which the Italian 
Government has decided to grant to the Bolzano steel 
works. 
The Commission of the European Communities 
acknowledges receipt of the telex sent by the Italian 
authorities on 5 November 1988 concerning the 
subsidized loan of Lit 6 000 million granted by the auth­
orities of the province of Bolzano to the Bolzano steel 
works in December 1987 under Law No 25 of the 
autonomous province of Bolzano. 
It would point out that, contrary to what is stated in the 
telex, it is the investment and not the loan which was 
authorized in 1982-83. Since it was not notified, the aid 
must accordingly be deemed to be unlawful. 
Furthermore, Decision No 3484/85/ECSC, which was 
in force at the time when the Commission learned of the 
aid, and the Commission Decision 322/89/ECSC 
extending the aforementioned Decision for three years 
list the objectives in respect of which exemptions may be 
granted from the general ban on aid to the steel industry 
laid down in Article 4 (c) of the ECSC Treaty, i.e.: 
— aid for R&D, 
— aid for environmental protection, 
— aid for closures, 
— regional aid for investment which does not lead to an 
increase in production capacity and which is carried 
Commission communication pursuant to Article 93 (2) of 
the EEC Treaty to other Member States and interested 
parties concerning aids which Spain has decided to grant out on the territory of a Member State in which no 
aid has been granted under Decisions No 
257/80/ECSC or No 2320/81 /ECSC. 
The subsidized loan in question does not meet any of 
these objectives. 
Similarly, Article 5 of Decision No 3484/85/ECSC, 
which allows regional aid for investment, cannot be 
invoked since, of the 10 Member States to which the 
Decision applied, only Greece met the requisite 
conditions. 
The aid, which the Commission estimates at a minimum 
of 5 % NGE of the investment and which was granted 
unlawfully, i.e. without prior authorization, by the 
Italian authorities in 1987 does not therefore appear to 
be compatible with the Community rules governing aid 
to the steel industry, whether the rules in force at the 
time or those currently in force, and consequently 
appears to be caught by the ban laid down in Article 4 
(c) of the ECSC Treaty. 
The Commission hereby gives the other Member States 
and interested parties notice to submit their comments on 
the measures in question within one month from the date 
of publication of this notice to: 
Commission of the European Communities, 
200 rue de la Loi, 
B-1049 Brussels. 
The comments will be communicated to Italy. 
in the form of compensatory allowances in certain areas 
in the municipality of Lorca (Murcia) STATE AID 
No 272/89 
(Spain) 
(Articles 92 to 94 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community) 
(90/C 67/08) 
17. 3.90 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 67/11 
1. By letter dated 21 September 1989, recorded as 
received on 22 September 1989, the Permanent 
Representation of Spain to the European 
Communities communicated the draft regional decree 
referred to above. 
2. The draft decree provides for the grant of an annual 
compensatory allowance to farmers located in the 
areas mentioned in Article 2 and which are not 
included in the Community list of less-favoured areas 
as defined in Directive 86/466/EEC for Spain. 
The measures in question are therefore not covered 
by Article 13 (Title III) of Regulation (EEC) No 
797/85; consequently, they must be examined in the 
light of Articles 92 to 94 of the Treaty pursuant to 
Article 31 of the said Regulation. 
3. The allowance is in fact an income aid to farmers 
enabling them to lower their production costs in 
relation to those of their competitors. It therefore has 
a direct impact on competition and on trade between 
Member States. However, there is no lasting effect, 
and any effects the measure does have will disappear 
with the measure itself. 
The aid is of a type to which the Commission has 
always objected; such measures cannot benefit from 
the exceptions provided for in Article 92 (3) of the 
Treaty and are not to be considered as income aids 
within the meaning of Council Regulation (EEC) No 
768/89. 
Commission communication pursuant to Article 93 (2) of 
the EEC Treaty to other Member States and interested 
parties concerning aids which Belgium has decided to 
grant to for the building of two refrigerator ships at the 
Boelwerf yard. 
The Commission has learnt from reliable sources that the 
Belgian Government appears to have granted a loan to 
the shipowner Cool Carrier for the building of the two 
vessels referred to above in the Boelwerf shipyard. 4. Moreover, the Commission informs the Spanish 
Government that it is giving notice to the other 
Member States, by sending them a copy of this letter, 
and to other interested parties by publishing a 
communication in the Official Journal of the European 
Communities, to submit their comments. 
5. The Commission draws the attention of the Spanish 
Government to the letter which it sent to all Member 
States on 3 November 1983 on the subject of their 
obligations under Article 93 (3) of the Treaty and to 
the communication published in the Official Journal of 
the European Communities No C 318/3 of 24 
November 1983 according to which any aid granted 
illegally (i.e. without awaiting the final decision under 
the procedure laid down in Article 93 (2) of the 
Treaty) may have to be refunded. Furthermore, the 
Commission may refuse to make EAGGF advance 
payments or to charge the expenditure relating to 
national measures that directly affect Community 
measures to the EAGGF budget. 
The Commission hereby gives the other Member States 
and interested parties notice to submit their comments on 
the measure in question within four weeks from the date 
of publication of this notice to: 
Commission of the European Communities, 
200 rue de la Loi, 
B-1049 Brussels. 
The comments will be communicated to Spain. 
By letter dated 5 June 1989, the Commission requested 
the Belgian Government to notify it, pursuant to Article 
93 (3) of the EEC Treaty, of the measure referred to 
above. 
According to the information in the possession of the 
Commission, the contract for the building of the two 
refrigerator ships comprises a credit from the maritime 
fund, under the Law of 28 August 1948, amounting to STATE AID 
NN 91/89 — C 1/90 
(Belgium) 
(Articles 92 to 94 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community) 
(90/C 67/09)