28. 8. 84 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 230/31 COMMISSION DECISION of 27 June 1984 on a proposed aid by the Netherlands Government in respect of certain investments to be carried out by an oil company at its refinery in the area of Rotterdam-Europoort (Only the Dutch text is authentic) (84/418/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the bTreaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 93 (2) thereof, Having given notice to the parties concerned to submit their comments, Whereas : Article 6 of the Netherlands Law of 29 June 1978 on the promotion and guidance of investment (Wet Investeringsrekening — WIR) (') introduced an ‘addi- tional premium for major schemes’ for the benefit of projects where investment exceeds Fl 30 million. The amount of the premium depends on the number of jobs created and may account for up to 4 % of the investment in question. When examining the Netherlands Law at the draft stage, in the course of the procedure under Article 93 (3) of the EEC Treaty, the Commission pointed out that since the ‘additional premium for major schemes’ involved no sectoral or regional objectives it therefore ‘constituted a general aid system, and that since the arrangements applied to all investment, without distinction by reference to given undertakings, regions or sectors, they could not qualify under the exceptions laid down in Article 92 (3) (a) or (c). In the absence of such specification, the Commission could not assess the system’s effects on trade between Member States and on competition and therefore assess its compatibi- lity with'the common market. In respect of such general aid systems it is now the well-established policy of the Commission to accept them subject to one of two conditions, namely, that the Member State concerned notifies the Commission (') Staatsblad 1978, No 368. either of a plan for regional or sectoral application or alternatively, where this is felt not to be possible, of significant individual cases of application. In line with this approach, and in accordance with Article 93(3) of the EEC Treaty, the Commission requested prior notification in good time of individual cases of application of the ‘additional premium for major schemes’, account being taken of the amount of investment concerned. During discussions with the Netherlands authorities the Commission stated that it would assess each case on its own merits in the light of the rules contained in Article 92 et seq., or rules developed during adminis- - tration of those provisions. The Netherlands Govern- ment could not infer that, by requesting regular prior notification the Commission had taken a favourable view of the additional premium system. The Netherlands Government complied with the Commission’s request by including the prior notifica- tion of procedure in Articles 6 (7) and 7 (3) of Chapter V of the Netherlands Law of 29 June 1978. II In accordance with this procedure the Netherlands Government informed the Commission, by telex dated 24 August 1983, of its intention to apply the aid provided for under the abovementioned aid scheme in favour of investments to be carried out at a refinery in the area of Rotterdam-Europoort. The investment plan foresees the installation of a ‘catalytic cracker’. This installation is designed to transform heavy oil into lighter products. The new installation will not  increase the refinery’s overall capacity but partially change the output from heavy products to lighter ones. The total investment costs are estimated at Fl 1010 million. The GPT premium proposed is F1 3 780 000. Realization of the project would result in the creation of approximately 137 jobs.