13.3.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities L71/23 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 15 November 2000 concerning State aid granted by Belgium to Cockerill Sambre SA (notified under document number C(2000) 3563) (Only the French and Dutch texts are authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2001/198/ECSC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, and in particular Article 4(c) thereof, Having regard to Commission Decision No 2496/96/ECSC of 18 December 1996 establishing Community rules for State aid to the steel industry (%), Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to the abovementioned Decision (?) and having regard to those comments, Whereas: I. PROCEDURAL STEPS Further to information published in the Belgian press, the Commission wrote to the Belgian authorities on 23 November 1998 (ref. D/54789) to request details of the aid allegedly granted to the steel company Cockerill Sambre SA as part of a scheme to reduce working time. The Belgian authorities replied by letter dated 11 December 1998 stating that they had indeed taken the measures in question but that, in their view, they did not constitute State aid. By letter of 25 January 2000, the Commission informed Belgium of its decision to initiate the procedure in Atrticle 6(5) of Decision No 2496/96/ECSC (hereinafter the ‘steel aid code’) in respect of the measures in ques- tion. The Commission Decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Communi- ties (?). The Commission invited interested parties to comment on the measures in question. () O] L 338, 28.12.1996, p. 42. () O] C 88, 25.3.2000, p. 8. () See footnote 2. (4) The comments which the Commission received were forwarded to Belgium on 23 May 2000 to give the latter an opportunity to respond, which it did by letter of 8 June 2000. II. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE AID The aid granted by Belgium to Cockerill Sambre SA totals BEF 553,3 million (EUR 13,7 million) and consists of two parts: 1. A reduction in employers' social security contribu- tions, decided by the Federal Government, amounting to BEF 418 million (EUR 10,36 million) over a seven-year period from 1999 to 2005. 2. A grant of BEF 135,3 million (EUR 3,35 million) from the Walloon Government over the same seven- year period. The aid was granted in connection with a reduction in the working week of the company's established employees from 37 to 34 hours. It applies to 1852 employees and covers the period 1999 to 2005. The federal aid was granted pursuant to the Royal Decree of 24 December 1993, which provides for certain reductions in social security payments with a view to job redistribution (¥). The Decree was supple- mented by the Royal Decree of 24 February 1997, which provides for more favourable conditions for firms in difficulty or undergoing restructuring. The special facilities allowed are related in particular to the number of jobs to be created and the period in which the reduction can be granted, which for present purposes is the period in which the firm is recognised as being in difficulty or undergoing restructuring, with a maximum (*) The Decree was approved by the Commission, as aid compatible with the EC Treaty, by letter of 30 June 1994 (ref. D/9395).