6.10.1999 Official Journal of the European Communities L 259/23 COMMISSION DECISION of 8 July 1999 on the measure which Germany is planning to implement for Neue Maxhiitte Stahlwerke GmbH iK. (notified under document number C(1999) 2269) (Only the German text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (1999/658/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)) (Y, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to those provisions (}) and having regard to those comments, Whereas: . Procedure (1) By letter dated 5 May 1998, the German authorities notified the Commission of two measures which the Land of Bavaria planned to implement for Neue Maxhiitte Stahlwerke GmbH (hereinafter referred to as ‘NMH): (a) payment of an amount of DEM 697 700 to reim- burse costs incurred by NMH in 1994 to secure a slag heap on its premises against partial collapse; (b) exemption for NMH from the cost of further protective measures for the slag heap to the amount of DEM 2213 274 As indicated in paragraphs 7 to 12, the German author- ities take the view that these measures do not constitute aid. Notification was carried out pursuant to Article 86 of the ECSC Treaty, read in conjunction with Article 6(2) of the steel aid code, which obliges the Member States to inform the Commission of any transfers of state resources, irrespective of whether they constitute aid. (2)  The German authorities provided the Commission with supplementary information by letters dated 30 June, 13 August, 15 October and 1 December 1998. By letter () O] L 338, 28.12.1996, p. 42. () O] C 108, 17.4.1999, p. 9. dated 1 February 1999, the Commission informed the German authorities of its decision to initiate the pro- cedure laid down in Article 6(5) of the steel aid code in respect of the aforementioned measures. (3)  The decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (*). The Commission called on interested parties to submit their comments. These comments were then forwarded to the German authorities, which were invited to respond. II. Detailed description of the measures (4)  Under an agreement of 4 November 1987 between the Land of Bavaria, Thyssen Edelstahlwerke AG, Thyssen Stahl AG, Lech-Stahlwerke GmbH, Saarstahl Volklingen GmbH, Krupp Stahl AG, Klockner Stahl GmbH and Mannesmann Rohrenwerke AG (hereinafter referred to as the ‘agreement’), the activities of the bankrupt Eisen- werkgesellschaft Maximilianshiitte mbH Sulzbach-Rosen- berg were continued under the newly created NMH. (5)  The agreement contains the following provision: ‘5.5 The installations are taken over free of old burdens. Where a takeover free of old burdens is im- possible, the Land of Bavaria will ensure that MHN (i. e. NMH) will not be affected by the resultant economic responsibilities.’ (6)  This provision constitutes a derogation from general German law, under which the owner is responsible for his site. (7)  In 1994 large cracks and displacement were discovered on the southern slope of the slag heap on the site of NMH. Experts (Geotechnisches Biiro Prof. Dr Schuler and Dr-Ing. Godecke) reported that these developments could lead to an immediate partial collapse. A protective embankment alongside the southern base of the heap had to be constructed out of slag as a temporary measure. The work was carried out by NMH in 1994 at a total cost of DEM 697 700. () See footnote 2.