EN Official Journal of the European Union L 324/34

EFTA SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY DECISION

No 69/06/COL

of 22 March 2006

amending for the fifty-fifth time the Procedural and Substantive rules in the field of State Aid

THE EFTA SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY (1),

HAVING REGARD TO the Agreement on the European Economic Area (2), in particular to Articles 61 to 63 and Protocol 26 thereof,

HAVING REGARD TO the Agreement between the EFTA States on the establishment of a Surveillance Authority and a Court of Justice (3), in particular to Articles 24 and 5(2)(b) thereof and Article 1 in Part I of Protocol 3 thereof,

WHEREAS under Article 24 of the Surveillance and Court Agreement, the Authority shall give effect to the provisions of the EEA Agreement concerning State aid,

WHEREAS under Article 5(2)(b) of the Surveillance and Court Agreement, the Authority shall issue notices or guidelines on matters dealt with in the EEA Agreement, if that Agreement or the Surveillance and Court Agreement expressly so provides or if the Authority considers it necessary,

RECALLING the Procedural and Substantive Rules in the Field of State Aid (4) adopted on 19 January 1994 by the Authority (5),

WHEREAS, according to point II under the heading ‘GENERAL’ at the end of Annex XV to the EEA Agreement, the Authority is to adopt, after consultation with the European Commission, acts corresponding to those adopted by the European Commission,

WHEREAS the former Chapter 34 of the State Aid Guidelines, which dealt with ‘Reference and discount rates and interest rates to be applied for the recovery of unlawful aid’ (6) was in whole deleted by College Decision No 195/04/COL on the 14 July 2004 (7),

WHEREAS the legal basis for the calculation of interest rates, in the case of recovery, is now to be found in College Decision No 195/04/COL,

WHEREAS reference rates are also dealt with outside recovery situations in the State aid Guidelines,

WHEREAS for the sake of clarity on which rules apply, the Authority finds it necessary to set out in one single document the various calculation methods and the legal bases for the rate of interest used for recovery of unlawful aid and for the reference rate and discount rate to be used in other than recovery situations,

HAVING consulted the European Commission,

RECALLING that the Authority has consulted the EFTA States in letters to Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway dated 15 February 2006 on the subject,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

1. The Authority’s State Aid Guidelines shall be amended by introducing a new Chapter 34 on the method for setting the reference and discount rates outside recovery cases. The new Chapter 34 is enclosed and forms an integral part of this Decision.

2. The new Chapter 34 will apply as of its adoption by the Authority.

Article 2

The EFTA States shall be informed by means of a letter, including a copy of this Decision and the enclosed new Chapter 34 of the Authority’s State Aid Guidelines.

Article 3

The European Commission shall be informed, in accordance with point (d) of Protocol 27 of the EEA Agreement, by means of a copy of this Decision.

Article 4

The Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and in the EEA Supplement to, the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels, 22 March 2006. For the EFTA Surveillance Authority Bjørn T. GRYDELAND President Kurt JÄGER College Member

(1) Hereinafter referred to as the ‘Authority’.

(2) Hereinafter referred to as the ‘EEA Agreement’.

(3) Hereinafter referred to as the ‘Surveillance and Court Agreement’.

(4) Hereinafter referred to as the ‘State Aid Guidelines’.

(5) Initially published in OJ L 231, 3.9.1994, p. 1, and in the EEA Supplement thereto No 32 on the same date. An up-dated version of the State Aid Guidelines is available on the Authority’s website: www.eftasurv.int

(6) Implementing partially Commission notice on the method for setting the reference and discount rates (OJ C 273, 9.9.1997, p. 3) and Commission Communication on interest rates in the case of recovery of unlawful State aid (OJ C 110, 8.5.2003, p. 21).

(7) College Decision No 195/04/COL of 14 July 2004 on the implementing provisions referred to under Article 27 in Part II of Protocol 3 to the Agreement between the EFTA States on the establishment of a Surveillance Authority and a Court of Justice (not yet published). Amended by Decision No 319/05/COL of 14 December 2005 (not yet published). Decision No 195/04/COL corresponds to Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 of 21 April 2004 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of [ex] Article 93 of the EC Treaty [now Article 88] (OJ L 140, 30.4.2004, p. 1).