5.9.2008 Official Journal of the European Union L 2387 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 14 December 2004 amending Commission Decision 2002/610/EC on the aid scheme which France is planning to implement for the start-up of new short sea shipping services (notified under document number C(2004) 4519) (Only the French text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2008/714[EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 88(2) thereof, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62(1)(a) thereof, Whereas: 1. PROCEDURE 1.1. Procedural overview (1)  On 30 January 2002, after a formal investigation ) 0 procedure, the Commission adopted  Decision 2002/610/EC (') approving, subject to certain conditions set out below, an aid scheme to promote the start-up of new short sea shipping services, hereinafter referred to as the ‘final decision’. The 26th recital of the final decision states that France accepts procedural conditions which are in particular binding on projects granting aid to an intra-Community sea shipping service between a French port and a port of another Member State and not on those involving sea shipping services between two French ports. On 18 November 2004 the French authorities asked the Commission to amend the final decision to take account of the new, more favourable provisions of the Community guidelines on State aid to maritime transport (), hereinafter referred to as ‘the Community guidelines’. 1.2. Title of the measure The measure to which the final decision refers is entitled: régime d’aides en faveur du lancement de nouvelles lignes L 196, 25.7.2002, p. 31. C 13, 17.1.2004, p. 3. S de transport maritime a courte distance (Aid scheme for the start-up of new short sea shipping services). 1.3. Objectives of the amendments The main objective of the proposed amendments is to take into account the new legal framework provided by the Community guidelines as regards aid for the start-up of short sea shipping services and to make the conditions imposed by the final decision compatible with these new Community guidelines on State aid. Recital 26 of the final decision states that ‘To ensure transparency and equal treatment of operators during the project selection procedure, the French authorities have given an undertaking to observe the following procedures: (@) a call for expressions of interest will be published periodically (for example, at the beginning of each year) in the form of a notice in the Official Journal of the European Communities giving details of the arrangements for the aid scheme, the procedure to be followed and the selection criteria; (b) in the case of projects between a port in France and a port in another Member State, a declaration of intent will be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities giving details of the objective of the project and of the aid ceiling envisaged. This will invite interested parties to express their interest within 15 working days. If any interested party opposes the aid scheme, stating the reasons, the scheme will have to be notified to the Commission for prior authorisation.’