10. 4. 97 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 95/25 COMMISSION DECISION of 4 December 1996 concerning aid granted by Belgium under the Maribel bis/ter scheme (Only the French and Dutch texts are authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (97/239/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 93 (2) thereof, Having regard to the Agreement establishing the Euro- pean Economic Area, and in particular the first subpara- graph of Article 61 (1) thereof, Having given the parties concerned the opportunity to submit their comments, in accordance with the above- mentioned Articles, Whereas: By letter dated 9 July 1996 ('), the Commission informed the Belgian Government of its decision to initiate the procedure provided for in Article 93 (2) of the EC Treaty in respect of aid granted under the Maribel bis/ter scheme to undertakings which carry on their principal activity in one of the sectors most exposed to international competi- tion. In response to the request made by the Commission in its letter dated 4 February 1994, the Belgian authorities communicated to it, by note dated 29 March 1994, the amendments made to the Maribel scheme, which had become Maribel 445, the purpose of which is to grant to undertakings that are ‘most exposed to international competition’ benefits in addition to those provided for in the initial scheme. The Commission received further details on 12 September 1994 and on 7 March, 16 August, 28 September and 18 December 1995. This information has enabled the Commission to establish the following: The Maribel scheme was introduced for an indefinite period by the Belgian Law of 29 June 1981 laying down the general principles of social security for wage earners. Under Article 35 of that Law, undertakings employing manual workers qualify for a reduction in social security contributions for all such workers. The reduction was () SG(96) D/6225. initially set at 6,17 % of the earnings of the workers concerned. Since it was general and automatic, that measure was not deemed to constitute aid falling within the scope of Article 92(1) of the EC Treaty. By Royal Decree of 12 February 1993, the reduction in social se- curity contributions was set at Bfrs 1 875 per quarter and per worker employed, ie. Bfrs 7 500 per year. A further amendment introduced by Royal Decree of 14 June 1993 and known as ‘opération Maribel bis provides that the quarterly amount of Bfrs 1875 is increased to Bfrs 6250 (Bfrs 8437 since 1 January 1994 under ‘Maribel ter') where the employer carries on his principal activity in one of the sectors most exposed to interna- tional competition. Accordingly, the reduction in those sectors is, with effect from 1 January 1994 (or from 1 April 1994 for the transport activities concerned), Bfrs 33 748 per worker per year. The aid granted to the under- takings concerned, i.e. the difference between the basic reduction and the increased reduction, is therefore Bfrs 26 248 per worker per year. For undertakings with fewer than 20 employees, the reduction in respect of their first five workers was set by ‘Royal Decree of 12 February 1993 at Bfrs 2825 per quarter and per worker employed (Bfrs 3 000 since 1 July 1993). For the sectors most exposed to international competition, this amount was increased to Bfrs 7 200 under Maribel &is and Bfrs 9 300 under Maribel ter. The benefit nevertheless satisfies the de minimis criteria and therefore does not fall within the scope of Article 92 of the EC Treaty. (The net aid, i.e. the difference between the reductions for these small undertakings and those for other undertakings, does not exceed ECU 1 744 over a three-year period.) According to the additional information obtained from the Belgian authorities, the undertakings which qualify for the increased reduction are those which carry on their principal activity in sectors involving the extraction and processing of non-energy materials and by-products, the chemical industry, the metal-processing industry, the mechanical engineering industry, the instrument engin- eering industry and certain other processing industries, and in certain service and transport activities, including international road transport.