L 103/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 4. 98 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 21 May 1997 on the proposal of Austria to award aid to the Hoffmann-La Roche company for the development of the drug ‘Orlistat’, designed for the treatment of pathological obesity (Only the German text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (98/251/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 Article 61(1) thereof, Having given the parties concerned the opportunity to submit their comments, in accordance with the above- mentioned Articles, Whereas: I. DESCRIPTION OF THE FACTS A. Antecedents By letter dated 2 October 1995, Austria, pursuant to Article 93(3) of the EC Treaty, notified proposed State aid to Hoffmann-La Roche (hereinafter ‘HLR’) for the de- velopment of the drug ‘Orlistat’, designed for the treat- ment of pathological obesity. By letter dated 5 March 1996, the Commission informed the Austrian authorities of the opening of the procedure provided for in Article 93(2) the EC Treaty. The multinational company HLR began the development of the anti-obesity drug Orlistat in 1986. A cooperation contract between HLR and Chemie Linz (hereinafter ‘CL), a chemical company owned by the Austrian State, was finalised in October and November 1992 to produce an intermediate compound essential for the production of the drug Orlistat. This contract involved the construction in Linz of a plant to produce hydroxy-beta-lactone, a key intermediate in the production of Orlistat. The implementation of the contract entails several phases going from the basic en- gineering work (which began in August 1992, before sig- nature of the contract) and construction of the plant, to start-up and production (planned for 1998 and for a 10-year duration). The whole production output of the intermediate product is to be exported to Switzerland, where Orlistat will be manufactured. The State aid proposal for the Orlistat project can be divided in two parts: one subsidy of ATS 300 million for research and development, and the other a grant of ATS 78 million for environmental protection. The aid is to be granted in principle by the federal, regional and local authorities. Austria considers the aid intensity to be 5,3 %, since the total amount of the project (including investment and research) is about ATS 7 124,9 million. The Commission decided to initiate the procedure provided for in Article 93(2) of the Treaty for the fol- lowing reasons: — a previous aid proposal, first notified on 18 October 1994 and for the same amount of aid as the present proposal, was presented as investment aid, although