DOWN THEREIN AS REGARDS , IN PARTICULAR , THE RESTORATION OF THE UNDERTAKINGS ' VIABILITY AND THE REDUCTION OF THEIR PRODUCTION CAPACITY . THE MEMBER STATES COULD NOT ACTUALLY GRANT THE AID IN QUESTION UNTIL THE COMMISSION HAD SATISFIED ITSELF THAT THOSE CONDITIONS AND OBLIGATIONS HAD BEEN COMPLIED WITH . THE AID , AND IN PARTICULAR AID FOR CONTINUED OPERATION , WAS ONLY ' RELEASED ' AFTER THE COMMISSION HAD EXAMINED THE PROSPECTS OF RESTORING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE UNDERTAKING IN QUESTION BY MEANS OF SPECIFIC RESTRUCTURING MEASURES .
30 THE COURT CONSIDERS THAT THE APPLICANT RIGHTLY EMPHASIZES THAT IN A SITUATION OF CRISIS THERE IS A CLOSE LINK , FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECSC TREATY , BETWEEN THE GRANTING OF AID TO THE STEEL INDUSTRY AND THE RESTRUCTURING WHICH THAT INDUSTRY IS REQUIRED TO UNDERTAKE . ARTICLE 4 OF THE ECSC TREATY PROHIBITS ' SUBSIDIES OR AIDS GRANTED BY STATES . . . IN ANY FORM WHATSOEVER ' . ACCORDINGLY , BY ESTABLISHING UNDER THE FIRST AND SECOND PARAGRAPHS OF ARTICLE 95 OF THE ECSC TREATY A COMMUNITY AID SYSTEM ( THE LEGALITY OF WHICH AS A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE HAS NOT BEEN CONTESTED BY THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT IN THESE PROCEEDINGS ), THE COMMISSION WAS UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ENTITLED TO AUTHORIZE THE GRANTING OF STATE AID WHICH WAS NOT NECESSARY TO ATTAIN THE OBJECTIVES OF THE TREATY AND WOULD BE LIKELY TO GIVE RISE TO DISTORTIONS OF COMPETITION ON THE COMMON MARKET IN STEEL .
31 IT APPEARS FROM THE SECOND AIDS CODE THAT THE COMMISSION , IN ADOPTING THAT CODE , AND THE COUNCIL , IN GIVING ITS ASSENT , TOOK THE VIEW THAT , FOR A LIMITED TIME , AID WAS VITAL TO RESTORE THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE EUROPEAN STEEL INDUSTRY AND THAT , IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THAT AIM , A CONSIDERABLE EFFORT WOULD HAVE TO BE PUT INTO RESTRUCTURING THE INDUSTRY , WHICH WOULD INCLUDE , IN PARTICULAR , A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN PRODUCTION CAPACITY . TO THAT END , THE SECOND AIDS CODE ESTABLISHED A CLEAR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GRANT OF AID AND EFFORTS TOWARDS RESTRUCTURING .
32 THE USE OF AID FOR THE PURPOSES OF RESTRUCTURING AND THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF SUCH AID ON THE PROCESS OF CUTTING PRODUCTION CAPACITY CAN BE MORE READILY UNDERSTOOD IN THE CASE OF INVESTMENT AID , AID FOR CLOSURES AND AID FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT THAN IN THE CASE OF AID FOR CONTINUED OPERATION , WHICH , ACCORDING TO ARTICLE 5 OF THE SECOND AIDS CODE , IS SIMPLY INTENDED ' TO FACILITATE THE CONTINUED OPERATION OF CERTAIN UNDERTAKINGS OR PLANTS ' . HOWEVER , IT MUST BE BORNE IN MIND THAT THE GRANT OF AID FOR CONTINUED OPERATION IS SUBJECT , BY VIRTUE OF THAT ARTICLE , TO VERY STRICT CONDITIONS , WHICH ARE DESIGNED PRECISELY TO MAKE SURE THAT SUCH AID IS GRANTED WITH A VIEW TO THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF A SPECIFIC RESTRUCTURING TASK .
33 HOWEVER , ALTHOUGH THE SECOND