6. 8. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 194/25 COMMISSION DECISION of 13 March 1996 on the compatibility with the common market of State guarantees for measures to restructure large firms in difficulty under the State guarantee schemes of the Linder of Saxony-Anhalt, Lower Rhineland-Palatinate, Bavaria, Bremen, Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schleswig-Holstein and Saxony (Only the German text is authentic) (96/475/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 93 (2) thereof, Having regard to the Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty ('), and in particular paragraphs 4 (1) and (2) thereof, Having regard to the comments received, Whereas: I. INTRODUCTION 1. By letters: — SG(94) D/12198 of 18 August 1994, — SG(94) D/12184 of 18 August 1994, — SG(94) D/15710 of 9 November 1994, — SG(94) D/12186 of 18 August 1994, — SG(94) D/15712 of 9 November 1994, — SG(94) D/15714 of 9 November 1994, — SG(94) D/15716 of 9 November 1994, — SG(94) D/15718 of 9 November 1994, — SG(94) D/17918 of 12 December 1994, the Commission, acting pursuant to Article 93 (1) of the EC Treaty, proposed appropriate measures regarding the State guarantee schemes of the Linder of — Saxony-Anhalt (E 5/94) — Lower Saxony (E 6/94) — North Rhine-Westphalia (E 7/94) — Rhineland-Palatinate (E 8/94) ~— Bavaria (E 9/94) — Bremen (E 13/94) () OJ No C 368, 31. 12. 1994, p. 12. — Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania  (E 14/94) — Schleswig-Holstein (E 15/94) — Saxony (E 16/94). By letter of 23 February 1995 the German authori- ties, as part of the proceedings pursuant to Article 93 (1), commented on the measures proposed. They accepted most of the measures the Commis- sion had suggested, but they objected to others, and particularly to the proposal that there should be case-by-case notification of all planned guarantees for restructuring measures, including reorganization and consolidation projects, aimed at large firms in difficulty, ‘large’ firms being defined in accordance with the Community guidelines on State aid for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The German authorities said they would be prepared to notify such cases whenever the amount guranteed exceeded DM 50 million (ECU 25 million). The Commission considered that the German authorities’ position was unacceptable. The Commission has published Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty, and has stated there that all awards of aid towards the rescue or restructuring of large firms in difficulty have to be notified individually. The guidelines do not make this obligation to notify subject to any threshold in terms of the volume of aid or the amount of the guarantee. The Commission took the view that the guarantees which were available for large firms’ restructuring projects under these schemes, and which had been the subject of appropriate measures prepared pursuant to Article 93 (1), were no longer compa- tible with the common market. On 15 March 1995 it decided to initiate proceedings pursuant to Article 93 (2) of the Treaty.