L 43/22 Official Journal of the European Communities 14.2.2002 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 3 July 2001 on the State aid which Italy is planning to implement for Ilva Lamiere e Tubi Srl (notified under document number C(2001) 1848) (Only the Italian text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2002/117[EC, ECSC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 88(2) thereof, 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 ('), and in particular Article 6(5) thereof, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62(1)(a) thereof, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to the provisions cited above (?) and having regard to their comments, Whereas: I. PROCEDURE (1) By letters dated 20 November 1997, 3 March 1998 and 12 June 1998, the Italian authorities notified the Commission, in accordance with Article 6(1) of Commission Decision No 2496/96/ECSC (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Steel Aid Code’), that they intended to grant environmental aid to two steel companies: Ilva Lamiere e Tubi Stl (hereinafter ‘ILT) (aid registered as N 126/98) and Siderumbra SpA (aid registered as N 341/98). They also notified, under Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty, aid for investment (registered as N 125/ 98) in ILT's tube-making facilities under Law No 488/92 of 19 December 1992 (?). The Italian authorities subse- () O] L 338, 28.12.1996, p. 42. () OJ C 332, 20.11.1999, p. 9, and O] C 315, 4.11.2000, p. 7. (*) The law contained the ‘organic framework for extraordinary aid to the Mezzogiorno and standards for subsidising production activities’. () 0) quently supplied further information which the Commission had requested in order to be able to estab- lish that all the projects notified complied with the requirements for state aid to the steel industry laid down in the Steel Aid Code. By letter dated 26 March 1999, the Commission informed the Italian Government of its decision to initiate proceedings under Article 6(5) of the Steel Aid Code (aid C 19/99) in cases ex N 125/98, ex N 126/98 (ILT) and ex N 341/98 (Siderumbra SpA) and invited it to submit its comments. This decision was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (*). The Commission invited interested parties to submit their comments on the aid. The Commission received comments from the United Kingdom. It forwarded them to Italy, which was given the opportunity to react; its comments were received by letter dated 14 January 2000, in which the Italian authorities informed the Commission that they were withdrawing the notifications relating to aid measures ex N 126/98 (ILT) and 341/98 (Siderumbra SpA) and that, accordingly, those measures were not going to be imple- mented. By letter dated 17 August 2000, the Commission informed Italy that it had decided to initiate the proce- dure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty in respect of aid measure ex N 125/1998 in favour of ILT. This decision was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (°). The Commission invited inter- ested parties to submit their comments on the aid. 332, 20.11.1999, p. 9. 0] C 0] C 315, 4.11.2000, p. 7.