21.2.2008 Official Journal of the European Union L 46/41 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 12 September 2007 on State aid C 54/2006 (ex N 276/2006) planned by Poland for Bison Bial SA (notified under document number C(2007) 4145) (Only the Polish version is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2008/145EC) 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, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments (') pursuant to the provisions cited above, Whereas: 1. PROCEDURE On 4 May 2006 Poland gave notification of planned restructuring aid for Bison Bial SA (hereinafter ‘BB). By letter of 13 June 2006 the Commission asked Poland to submit some missing information, which was duly provided by the Polish authorities on 13 July 2006. The Commission requested further information by letter of 29 August 2006. The Polish authorities replied by letters dated 18 September, 20 October and 3 November 2006. By letter of 20 December 2006 the Commission informed Poland that it had decided to initiate the proceedings laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty in respect of the measure. The Commission’s decision to initiate proceedings under Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (?). The Commission invited interested parties to submit their comments on the measure. The Polish authorities submitted their observations by letter of 23 January 2007. No reactions from third parties have been received. () O] C 23, 1.2.2007, p. 20. () See footnote 1. ©) On 28 March a meeting was organised with represen- tatives of the Polish authorities and BB. The Commission asked for further information by letter of 17 April 2007. The Polish authorities replied by letter of 15 May 2007. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE AID 2.1. The company BB is a large company which produces machine tool fixtures such as lathe chucks, spindle tooling, milling fixtures and tool holders. It was created in 1948 as a State enterprise. In 1997 the State sold 53 % of BB’s shares to the private company Metalexport Sp. z o.0., which in 2004 was renamed Mex-Holding Sp. z o.o. At the end of 2006 the State held 18 % of BB'’s shares; while the remaining shareholders were private investors. BB had 950 employees in 2006, down from 1 680 in 2000. In 2004 the company had a 17 % share of the Polish machine tool fixtures market, which represented only 20% of BB's output, since the company produces mainly for export (in 2004 30% of output was exported to the United States, 15 % to Italy, 7 % to Eastern European countries including Russia and 5 % to the United Kingdom). The company distributes most of its exported products through companies from the Mex- Holding Group, such as Toolmex Corporation (USA), Mexpol GmbH (Germany), Toolmex Polmach (UK) or Italmex SA (Italy). BB’s estimated share of the European market amounts to 1,3 %. The geographical scope of the market for these products is at least European and possibly worldwide. Production of standard machine tool fixtures like the ones made by BB is characterised by overcapacity at world and European level. The company is based in a region eligible for aid under Article 87(3)(a) of the EC Treaty.