No L 106/30 Official Journal of the Buropean Communities 24. 4. 97 COMMISSION DECISION of 18 December 1996 ECSC steel — Forges de Clabecq (Only the French and Dutch texts are authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (97/271/ECSC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, and in particular Article 4 (c) thereof, Having regard to Commission Decision No 3855/91/ ECSC of 27 November 1991 establishing Community rules for aid to the steel industry ('), Having given the parties concerned the opportunity to submit their comments (%), in accordance with the above- mentioned Decision, and having regard to those comments, Whereas: In June 1996 the Belgian authorities notified the Commission, in accordance with Article 6 (2) of Decision No 3855/91/ECSC (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Steel Aid Code’), of financial assistance to be granted by the Region of Wallonia, through Société wallonne de sidérurgie (SWS), a company which it wholly owns, to the undertaking Forges de Clabecq, an integrated steel plant which produces liquid steel and finished flat products, namely sheet and flattened slabs. The assistance was planned as part of the restructuring of the undertaking and consisted chiefly of a capital injec- tion of Bfrs 1 500 million. Pending Commission authori- zation of this assistance and to enable the undertaking to continue to operate, rescue measures were taken, such as restructuring of the undertaking’s long-term debt, the waiver of claims by SWS and its subsidiary SA Forges Finances, and the grant of bridging loans. Belgium takes the view that no aid elements are involved. On the basis of the information then available, the Commission was unable to share Belgium’s opinion. Consequently, in order to obtain as much information as () OJ No L 362, 31. 12. 1991, p. 57. () OJ No C 301, 11. 10. 1996, p. 4. possible and to give interested parties the opportunity of commenting on the case, the Commission decided to initiate the procedure provided for in Article 6 (4) of Decision No 3855/91/ECSC. In the framework of that procedure, the Commission received Belgium’s reply on 25 October 1996 and nine letters from interested parties, eight of which were communicated to the Belgian authorities for comment on 15 November 1996 and one on 20 November 1996. Three other letters were received but were not taken into account by the Commission since they were dispatched after expiry of the time allowed for comments. Belgium presented its observations on those comments by letter of 27 November 1996. 11 Forges de Clabecq is an integrated steel plant which produces liquid steel and finished flat products, namely sheet and flattened slabs. In 1995/96, it produced 725 000 tonnes of cast iron, 710 000 tonnes of steel (slabs) and 504 000 tonnes of sheet and flattened slabs. Annual production capacity is 1250 000 tonnes of cast iron, 1 500 000 tonnes of steel and 980 000 tonnes of hot- rolled sheet. Monthly turnover is in the order of Bfrs 900 million. The workforce stood at 2 145 employees on 31 January 1996. In June 1996, the undertaking had capital resources of Bfrs 51 million and financial debts of Bfrs 3 443 million, together with other debts (commercial, social and tax debts) totalling Bfrs 1 997 million. After having studied various possibilities regarding the future of the undertaking the Region of Wallonia, through SWS, decided to take control of Forges de Clabecq and drew up a recovery plan for the undertaking, accompanied by a number of conditions. Before restruc- turing, the authorized capital of the undertaking was Bfrs 3080 million, broken down as follows: SWS, 39 %; Socindus (private), 21,3 %; and the general public through stock exchange quotations, the remainder (nearly 40 %). Since 17 June 1996, the Belgian State, through SWS§, has held 60,4 % of the shares.