OF INVESTMENT AID SUBJECT TO THE CONDITION THAT THE APPLICANT' S SHEET STEEL PRODUCTION CAPACITY SHOULD BE REDUCED BY 360*000 TONNES BY TAKING A ROLLING MILL OUT OF SERVICE . IN ITS LETTER, THE COMMISSION CITED THE FOLLOWING CONSIDERATION AS ONE OF THE REASONS FOR THE AUTHORIZATION :
"THE COMMISSION CONSIDERS, ON THE BASIS OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE UNDERTAKING IN RESPONSE TO THE COMMISSION' S FINANCIAL QUESTIONNAIRE, THAT THERE IS A STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT, UNDER NORMAL MARKET CONDITIONS, DILLINGER HUETTENWERKE AG WILL BE ABLE TO RESTORE ITS FINANCIAL VIABILITY BETWEEN NOW AND 1986 WITHOUT FURTHER AID ."
6 THE COMMISSION GRANTED THAT AUTHORIZATION UNDER GENERAL COMMISSION DECISION NO 2320/81 OF 7 AUGUST 1981 ESTABLISHING COMMUNITY RULES FOR AIDS TO THE STEEL INDUSTRY ( THE "AIDS CODE", OFFICIAL JOURNAL 1981, L*228, P . 14 ). THE FIRST INDENT OF ARTICLE 2*(1 ) OF THAT DECISION REQUIRES THE RESTRUCTURING PROGRAMME OF THE UNDERTAKING IN QUESTION TO BE CAPABLE OF RESTORING ITS COMPETITIVENESS AND OF MAKING IT FINANCIALLY VIABLE WITHOUT AID UNDER NORMAL MARKET CONDITIONS .
7 THE APPLICANT CLAIMS THAT THE CONTESTED DECISION IS BASED ON AN ERRONEOUS INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE 14A OF DECISION NO 234/84, IN SO FAR AS THE PRECONDITION FOR ITS APPLICABILITY IS NOT THAT THE UNDERTAKING SHOULD HAVE BEEN RESTRUCTURED ALREADY BUT RATHER THAT ITS VIABILITY SHOULD BE ASSURED WITHOUT STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT . MOREOVER, IT CLAIMS THAT THE STATEMENT OF THE REASONS FOR THE DECISION IS INADEQUATE, SINCE, IN APPRAISING THE VIABILITY OF THE APPLICANT UNDERTAKING, THE COMMISSION CONSIDERED NEITHER ITS GENERAL FINANCIAL SITUATION NOR THE NATURE OF THE PLANNED RESTRUCTURING MEASURES, NOR THE NATURE OF THE AID APPLIED FOR . HAD IT DONE SO, IT WOULD HAVE FOUND THAT THE VIABILITY OF THE APPLICANT WAS FULLY ASSURED WITHOUT STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT AND THAT THE FUNCTION OF THE RESTRUCTURING WAS MERELY TO MAINTAIN ITS COMPETITIVENESS .
8 THE APPLICANT CLAIMS IN PARTICULAR THAT THE COMMISSION MAY NOT BASE ITS APPRAISAL ON THE SAME CRITERIA AS THOSE WHICH IT EMPLOYS, UNDER THE RULES FOR AIDS, WHEN ASSESSING WHETHER THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE UNDERTAKING SEEKING THE AID IS CAPABLE OF RE-ESTABLISHING ITS COMPETITIVENESS AND MAKING IT FINANCIALLY VIABLE WITHOUT AID UNDER NORMAL MARKET CONDITIONS . IN THAT CONNECTION, THE APPLICANT STATES THAT, WHILST THE FRENCH VERSIONS OF DECISION NO 234/84 AND OF THE RULES FOR AIDS USE RESPECTIVELY THE WORDS "VIABILITE" AND "FINANCIEREMENT VALABLE", THE GERMAN VERSION OF THE RULES FOR AIDS SPEAKS OF "RENTABILITAET" ( PROFITABILITY ), WHICH IS A CONCEPT FAR REMOVED FROM THAT OF "LEBENSFAEHIGKEIT" ( VIABILITY ), THE TERM USED IN ARTICLE 14A OF DECISION NO 234/84 . FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERING WHETHER THE LATTER CONDITION IS SATISFIED, THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR REQUIRING, AS DOES THE COMMISSION UNDER THE RULES FOR AIDS, A MINIMUM RETURN OF 3.5% ON CAPITAL AND RESERVES, SINCE, FOR THE APPLICANT' S SHAREHOLDERS, A LOWER RETURN IS PREFERABLE TO LIQUIDATION OF THE COMPANY .
9 THE COMMISSION STATES THAT ARTICLE 14A OF DECISION NO 234/84 WAS INSERTED BY COMMISSION