L 225/104 Official Journal of the European Union 27.8.2009 COMMISSION DECISION of 2 July 2008 on the measures C 16/04 (ex NN 29/04, CP 71/02 and CP 133/05) implemented by Greece in favour of Hellenic Shipyards (notified under document C(2008) 3118) (Only the Greek text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2009/610/EC) 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 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: 1. PROCEDURE By letter dated 9 September 2003, the Greek authorities submitted to the Commission an application by Hellenic Shipyards S.A. (hereafter ‘HSY’) for amendments to the investment plan for its restructuring, in favour of which aid was authorised by Commission decision of 15 July 1997 in case N 401/97 (%) (hereafter ‘decision N 401/97). According to the amended plan, dated November 2002, HSY applied for, and eventually received the approval of the Greek authorities to complete the implementation of the investment plan by 30 June 2004. Moreover, according to the amended plan, the aid approved by the Commission in 1997, has not yet been paid out to HSY. By letter dated 31 October 2003, the Greek authorities explained that the amended plan was communicated to the Commission ‘for its information’, and was not meant to be a notification. By letter dated 18 November 2003, the Commission asked the Greek authorities to clarify whether they intended to grant or disburse aid to HSY for the purposes of the amended investment plan. In the same letter, the Commission reminded the Greek authorities that in such a case, and in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 of 22 March 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the EC Treaty (}) (hereafter Regulation (EC) No 659/1999) this aid should be notified to the Commission and should not be implemented before the Commission has taken a formal decision in that respect. 4) (10) By letter dated 16 January 2004 the Greek authorities stated that the aid they intend to grant is ‘existing aid’, covered by the terms of the Commission’s approval decision of 1997, and that the Greek authorities have jurisdiction to approve amendments to the restructuring plan, including the prolongation of the timetable for the plan’s implementation. By letter dated 20 February 2004, the Commission communicated to the Greek authorities its doubts regarding the validity of the above statements. By letter dated 27 February 2004, the Greek authorities stated that no aid had been granted to HSY to that date. By decision C(2004) 1359 of 20 April 2004 (¥ (hereafter ‘the opening decision’), the Commission initiated the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the Treaty with respect to the amendments made to the investment plan which is partly financed by the investment aid au- thorised by decision N 401/97. The opening decision indicates also that the State-owned bank Hellenic Bank of Industrial Development (hereinafter ‘ETVA’) granted several loans and guarantees to HSY and that the Greek authorities have not provided yearly reports as they should have done. After having requested and received extensions of the deadline to submit comments, Greece submitted comments on the opening decision by letter of 20 October 2004. The Commission decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (°). The Commission invited interested parties to submit their comments on the measures. After having requested and received extensions of the deadline to submit comments, HSY made comments on the opening decision by letter of 18 October 2004. These comments are the same as the ones submitted by Greece on 20 October 2004. Elefsis, a Greek competitor of HSY, submitted comments by letter of 10 September 2004. These comments were sent to Greece by letters of 16 December 2004 and 23 December 2004, which