6.2.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities L 35/15 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 28 March 2001 on the State aid which Germany is planning to implement for the steel firm BREM.A Warmwalz- werk GmbH & Co. KG (notified under document number C(2001) 971) (Only the German text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2002/81/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 the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62(1)(a) thereof, read in conjunc- tion with Protocol 14, Having regard to Commission Decision No 2496/96/ECSC of 18 December 1996 establishing Community rules for State aid to the steel industry (") (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Steel Aid Code), and in particular Article 6(5) thereof, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to the provisions cited above (?) and having regard to those comments, Whereas: I. PROCEDURE (1) By letter dated 18 January 2000, Germany, acting under Article 3 of Decision No 2496/96/ECSC (Steel Aid Code), notified the Commission of aid for a plant belonging to Stahlwerke Bremen GmbH and which in the meantime has become a legally independent firm, BREM.A Warmwalzwerk GmbH & Co. KG (hereinafter referred to as ‘Brema’). The aid amounted to DEM 1,214 million (EUR 622 564), representing 15 % of an invest- ment of DEM 8,09 million (EUR 4,14 million). (2) By letter dated 5 July 2000, the Commission informed Germany that it had decided to initiate the procedure () O] L 338, 28.12.1996, p. 42. 0] C 310, 28.10.2000, p. 11. laid down in Article 6(5) of the Steel Aid Code in respect of the aforementioned aid. (3)  The Commission decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Communi- ties ). The Commission invited interested parties to submit their comments on the aid. (4)  The German authorities presented their comments by letter dated 31 July 2000. The UK Steel Association, the beneficiary undertaking Brema and SIDMAR, the parent company of Stahlwerke Bremen GmbH, sent comments in the context of the procedure. The Commission noti- fied Germany of these comments by letter dated 22 December 2000 and Germany gave its comments in a letter dated 19 January 2001. II. DESCRIPTION OF THE AID (5)  Brema became an undertaking with an independent legal status in January 2000, separating itself from Stahlwerke Bremen GmbH, which became its parent company, is in turn owned by SIDMAR and forms part of the Luxem- bourg-based ARBED group. It is an ECSC steel company that manufactures mainly hot-rolled sheets. Its hot- rolling mill produces 3,12 million tonnes per year. Slabs for the hot-rolling process are reheated in a walking- beam furnace. According to the German authorities, the steering system of the furnace, which is 27 years old, is based on obsolete technology and requires modernisa- tion. () See footnote 2.