L 163/24 Official Journal of the European Communities 20.6.2001 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 21 December 2000 on the State aid which Italy is planning to implement in favour of the steel companies Lucchini SpA and Siderpotenza SpA (notified under document number C(2000) 4368) (Only the Italian text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2001/466/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) (1), 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 16 March 1999, Italy notified the Commission of aid, under Article 3 of the steel aid code, in favour of Lucchini SpA, for investments at its Piom- bino plant. By letter dated 29 November 1999, Italy notified further investment aid under Article 3 in favour of Lucchini SpA, Piombino, and also in favour of Siderpotenza SpA, a steel company owned by the Lucchini family. (2) By letter dated 26 April 2000, the Commission informed Italy that it had decided to initiate the proce- 0] L 338, 28.12.1996, p. 42. () O] C 184, 1.7.2000, p. 2. dure 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 Commission received comments from the UK Steel Association and from the UK Permanent Representation to the European Union. It forwarded them to Italy, which was given the opportunity to react and sent its reply thereto by letter dated 13 October 2000. II. DESCRIPTION OF THE AID (5)  The notified investments and the expected effect on the environment have been described in detail in the decision to initiate the procedure. That description remains valid for the purposes of the present Decision. (6)  The investments carried out by Lucchini SpA and noti- fied as eligible for environmental aid concern the coking plant, the steel works, the blast furnace, the fumes extraction system and the water and sewage system. The total notified investment costs, considered eligible by the Italian authorities, amount to ITL 190,9 billion (EUR 98,58 million). The proposed aid amounts to ITL 13,5 billion (EUR 6,98 million), representing an aid intensity of 7 %. () See footnote 2.