30. 5. 97 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 139/27 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 26 February 1997 concerning closure aid which Italy plans to grant to Mini Acciaieria Odolese as part of the restructuring of the private steel industry (Only the Italian text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (97/332/ECSC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, Having regard to Commission Decision No 2496/96/ ECSC of 18 December 1996 establishing Community rules for State aid to the steel industry ('), and in particular Article 4 thereof, Having given the interested parties notice to submit their comments (%), and having regard to those comments, Whereas: By letter dated 15 December 1995, the Commission informed the Italian authorities of its decision to initiate proceedings pursuant to Article 6 (4) of Commission Decision No 3855/91/ECSC, then in force, concerning aid to be granted under the programme for the restruc- turing of Italy’s private steel industry, in particular to Mini Acciaieria Odolese (hereinafter MAO). In a Decision of December 1994, the Commission au- thorized the aid provided for in Italian Law No 481 of 3 () OJ No L 338, 28. 12. 1996, p. 42. () O] No C 101, 3. 4. 1996, p. 4. August 1994 (hereinafter Law No 481/94) on plant closures in the Italian private steel industry, having checked that the Law complied with Decision No 3855/ 91/ECSC, and in particular with Article 4, and required the Italian authorities to give it prior notification of individual aid grants under the Law. The Decision provided that, in order to benefit from closure aid, a firm must have been in production for on average at least one shift per day, i.e. at least eight hours per day, for five days per weeks for the whole of 1993 and up to February 1994, when Decree Law No 396/94, subsequently converted into Law No 481/94, was notified to the Commission. According to the information in the Commission’s possession, MAO, while fulfilling the other requirements of Article 4 of the Decision on aid to closures, was not in regular production at the time of closure. As the Commission had serious difficulty in determining whether the aid in question was compatible with the common market, it decided to initiate proceedings under Article 6 (4) of Decision No 3855/91/ECSC. 11 As part of the proceedings, the Commission invited the Italian Government to submit its comments, and informed the other Member States and interested parties by publishing the Decision initiating the proceedings.