26.10. 1999 Official Journal of the European Communities L275/17 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 15 September 1999 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case No 1V[36.748 — REIMS 1I) (notified under document number C(1999) 2596) (Text with EEA relevance) (1999/695EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, Having regard to Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, first Regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1216/ 1999 (3, and in particular Articles 6 and 8 thereof, Having regard to the application for negative clearance and the notification for exemption submitted pursuant to Articles 2 and 4 of Regulation No 17 on 31 October 1997 and the supplementary notifications submitted on 12 January 1998, 2 February 1998 and 28 September 1998, Having regard to the summary of the application and noti- fication published pursuant to Article 19(3) of Regulation No 17.0), After consultation with the Advisory Committee for Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions, Whereas: A. FACTS I. INTRODUCTION (1)  On 31 October 1997, an agreement on terminal dues between postal operators (the REIMS II Agreement) was notified to the Commission pursuant to Regulation No () O] 13, 21.2.1962, p.204/62. () O] L 148, 15.6.1999, p. 5. () O] C 371, 1.12.1998, p. 7. 17 with a view to obtaining a negative clearance or an exemption under Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty. Following the accession of several other postal operators to the Agreement, the information contained in that notification was supplemented and amended by letters dated 12 January 1998 and 2 February 1998 respec- tively. Finally, a first supplementary agreement was noti- fied to the Commission by a letter dated 28 September 1998. In a letter of 30 July 1998 the parties have clarified that their application is also based on the rele- vant rules of the EEA Agreement (Article 53). II. THE PARTIES At the date of its notification, 13 public postal operators (PPOs) had signed the REIMS II Agreement. Three more PPOs have since joined the Agreement. The parties now comprise the PPOs of all the Member States of the Community other than the Netherlands, and the PPOs of Norway and Iceland: Austrian Post, La Poste/De Post (Belgium), Post Danmark, Finland Post, La Poste (France), Deutsche Post, Hellenic Post ELTA, Iceland Post, An Post (Ireland), Poste Italiane, Entreprise des Postes & Télécom- munications (Luxembourg), Norway Post, CTT Correios de Portugal, Correos y Telégrafos (Spain), Sweden Post and The Post Office (United Kingdom). The parties are the incumbent postal operators in their respective states.