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The Court of First Instance dismissed the application in its entirety. As regards the second plea in particular, which is the only plea the appellant has retained in the appeal, the Court held as follows: ‘60 The applicant claims that the Commission applied Declaration No 31 in a manifestly erroneous manner since, on the one hand, it laid down the prior condition that aid cannot be allowed if the investment in question is intended to increase production capacity and, on the other hand, it did not weigh the advantages gained by the Community from the Republic of Austria's accession to the European Union without a transitional period against the disadvantages of the aid concerned being paid. 61 In that regard, it should be pointed out at once that the wording of Declaration No 31 does not contain any restrictions relating to production capacity... As a result, the Commission cannot exclude in advance from the scope of that declaration all cases in which investment by a potential recipient of aid is designed to increase production capacity. The Commission is not entitled to add a general restriction to the scope of Declaration No 31 which is not derived from the text of the declaration itself. 62 However, even if it is true that the Commission, at least as regards paragraph 53 of the contested decision, may have given the impression that it would under no circumstances approve aid to an investor which was intended to increase capacity, in accordance with its approach as set out in the guidelines on aid for rescuing and restructuring, the fact remains that a more exhaustive reading of the contested decision shows that the Commission did consider whether it was possible to grant the aid in question on the basis of Declaration No 31 in the light of the particular circumstances of this case. ... 65 The Commission went on to stress that the contested aid “promotes increased production capacity in a sector which is not regulated by a quota system and is experiencing structural over-capacity” (paragraph 46 of the contested decision). According to the Commission, starch producers in other Member States which export to Austria might find their competitive position on the Austrian market affected by Agrana's increased capacity and might be exposed to greater competition on other markets (paragraph 52 of the contested decision). In conclusion, it considered that the contested aid “affects trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest by helping to increase supply in a market where there is limited demand and thereby distorts competition” (paragraph 54 of the contested decision). 66 Therefore, notwithstanding the flexibility clause in Declaration No 31, the Commission considered [that] the aid could not be regarded as compatible with the common market pursuant to Article 92(3)(c) of the EC Treaty [now, after amendment, Article 87(3)(c) EC] (paragraph 56 of the contested decision). 67 In the light of the reasons given by the Commission in the contested decision, that institution cannot be regarded as having committed a manifest error of assessment in considering that the contested aid plan could not be justified solely on the basis of Declaration No 31. 68 The Commission cannot be criticised for considering that the grant of that aid might seriously affect its policy in the sector concerned. The fact that it bases itself to a large extent on the structural situation in that sector within a Community context does not mean that it failed to assess this case individually. 69 As regards the failure to weigh the advantages the Community gained from the Republic of Austria's accession to the European Union without a transitional period against the disadvantages involved in the aid in question being paid, it must be observed that the Commission was not required to take that aspect into account. When making its assessment of the compatibility of the contested aid, in which it had to take Declaration No 31 into account, the Commission was, admittedly, required to consider, as it pointed out in paragraph 49 of the contested decision, whether the aid was likely to promote the development of an economic sector or area without affecting trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest. However, the advantages which the Community was able to gain as a result of the Republic of Austria's accession to the European Union do not constitute a relevant factor in the context of a specific assessment of aid. 70 It is clear from all the foregoing considerations that the Commission did not commit a manifest error in its assessment of the question whether the contested aid was compatible with the common market. It is also clear that it did not infringe the provisions of Article 151(1) of the Act of Accession, read in conjunction with Declaration No 31 and Article 87(3)(c) EC. 71 The second plea must therefore be rejected.’