AUGUST 1981 ESTABLISHING COMMUNITY RULES FOR AIDS TO THE STEEL INDUSTRY ( OFFICIAL JOURNAL L 228 , P . 14 ) AND THE AFORESAID DECISION NO 2177/83 EXTENDING THE QUOTA SYSTEM THAT THE RULES PURSUE A COMMON AIM , NAMELY TO PROMOTE THE RESTRUCTURING NEEDED TO ADAPT PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY TO FORESEEABLE DEMAND AND TO RE-ESTABLISH THE COMPETIVITY OF THE EUROPEAN STEEL INDUSTRY . IT IS CONSISTENT WITH THAT AIM THAT UNDERTAKINGS WHICH HAVE RECEIVED A FORM OF AID LIKELY TO DELAY THE DESIRED RESTRUCTURING , NAMELY AID INTENDED TO COVER OPERATING LOSSES , SHOULD BE EXCLUDED FROM THE BENEFIT OF THE ADDITIONAL QUOTAS , THE GRANT OF WHICH MAY LIKEWISE REDUCE THEIR WILLINGNESS TO RESTRUCTURE . MOREOVER , THE COMMISSION CANNOT BE REPROACHED FOR IMPOSING A PRECISE AND OBJECTIVE CRITERION LEAVING NO ROOM FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH HAVE LED IN EACH CASE TO THE OPERATING LOSSES COVERED BY THE NATIONAL AID IN QUESTION .
10 ON THE CONTRARY , TO HAVE ENABLED UNDERTAKINGS WHICH DURING THE PREVIOUS TWELVE MONTHS HAVE RECEIVED OTHER KINDS OF NATIONAL AID AUTHORIZED BY THE COMMISSION TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL QUOTAS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A MISUSE OF POWER WITH REGARD TO THE APPLICANT . THOSE OTHER KINDS OF AID ( INVESTMENT AID , AID FOR CLOSURE OR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ) ARE IN FACT LIKELY TO ENCOURAGE RESTRUCTURING AND IMPROVEMENT OF COMPETITIVITY . THE DISTINCTION MADE BY THE CONTESTED DECISION BETWEEN SUCH AID AND AID INTENDED TO COVER OPERATING LOSSES IS THUS BASED ON AN OBJECTIVE AND SUBSTANTIAL CRITERION WITH REGARD TO THE AIMS WHICH THE COMMISSION MAY LAWFULLY PURSUE AS PART OF ITS INDUSTRIAL POLICY .
11 IT FOLLOWS THAT THE FIRST SUBMISSION MUST BE REJECTED .
ALLEGED INFRINGEMENT OF ARTICLE 18 OF DECISION NO 2177/83
12 THE APPLICANT STATES THAT DECISION NO 2748/83 IS BASED ON ARTICLE 18 OF DECISION NO 2177/83 WHICH AUTHORIZES THE COMMISSION , IF THE APPLICATION OF DECISION NO 2177/83 ENCOUNTERS ANY UNFORESEEN DIFFICULTIES , TO CARRY OUT THE NECESSARY ADJUSTMENTS BY GENERAL DECISION . THE COMMISSION HAD BEEN MAKING INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS IN RELATION TO AID BY THE MEMBER STATES TO THEIR RESPECTIVE STEEL UNDERTAKINGS AS EARLY AS 29 JANUARY 1983 . BEFORE ADOPTING DECISION NO 2177/83 IT THUS HAD FULL KNOWLEDGE OF THE VARIOUS KINDS OF AID WHICH THE STATES INTENDED TO GRANT AND THUS WAS IN A POSITION TO FORESEE THE NUMBER OF UNDERTAKINGS WHICH COULD NOT BENEFIT FROM THE ADJUSTMENTS PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE 14 AS ORIGINALLY DRAFTED . CONSEQUENTLY , THE DIFFICULTIES CITED BY THE COMMISSION TO JUSTIFY THE ADOPTION OF DECISION NO 2748/83 WERE NOT UNFORESEEN AND THE DECISION WAS ACCORDINGLY ILLEGAL FOR INFRINGEMENT OF ARTICLE 18 OF DECISION NO 2177/83 .
13 THE COMMISSION , ON THE OTHER HAND , MAINTAINS THAT AS SOON AS DECISION NO 2177/83 WAS ADOPTED NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS FOR AN ADJUSTMENT OF QUOTAS WERE MADE TO IT BY SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZE UNDERTAKINGS WHICH ALLEGED THAT THEY HAD EXCEPTIONAL FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES AS A RESULT OF THE QUOTA SYSTEM