No L 6/34 Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 1. 97 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 30 July 1996 concerning aid granted to Santana Motor SA (Only the Spanish text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (97/17/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 on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62 (1) (a) thereof, Having given the parties concerned the opportunity to submit their comments, in accordance with the above- mentioned Articles, Whereas: Opening of the procedure provided for in Article 93 (2) of the Treaty On 11 January 1995 the Commission decided (') to initiate the procedure provided for in Article 93 (2) of the Treaty in respect of aid granted by the Spanish authorities to Santana Motor SA (Santana), previously owned by the Japanese company Suzuki Motor Co. (Suzuki). The aid covered by the procedure consisted of: 1. (a) a loan of Pta 6 800 million granted by the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO); (b) another loan of Pta 6 800 million granted by the Instituto de Fomento de Andalucia (IFA), a public institution owned by the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. Both loans were without interest and were to be reim- bursed through the assignment of a fixed percentage of profits. () OJ No C 144, 10. 6. 1995, p. 13. Both loans were decided on, and up to Pta 10116 million was paid out, without the Commission’s au- thorization; 2. redundancy payments made by the regional authorities to encourage workers to take early retirement (amount unknown); 3. aid paid in 1994 to Santana’s suppliers (amount unknown). In its notice the Commission stated that these aid measures would be assessed in the light of the Com- munity framework on State aid to the motor vehicle in- dustry (%) and the Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty ?). In accordance with the above guidelines, the Commission takes the needs of regional development into account when assessing restructuring aid in assisted areas. Never- theless, the criteria normally used for assessing restruc- turing aid are also applied in such cases, since in the medium to long term, it does not help a region to prop up artificially companies which for structural or other reasons are ultimately doomed to failure. 11 Observations from interested parties No comments were received from third parties pursuant to the Article 93 (2) procedure. The Spanish authorities transmitted their observations in connection with the opening of the procedure by letter of 31 March 1995 (after having requested and been allowed a one-month extension of the deadline). @ OJ No C 123, 18. 5. 1989, p. 3. () O] No C 368, 23. 12. 1994, p. 12.