5.4.2007 Official Journal of the European Union L 95/25 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 22 November 2006 on State aid implemented by France for the Laboratoire national de métrologie et d’essais (C24/2005) (notified under document number C(2006) 5477) (Only the French version is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2007/217EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 88(2) thereof, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62(1)(a) thereof, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to the provisions cited above (!) and having regard to their comments, Whereas: 1. PROCEDURE (1)  Following a complaint from a competitor, the Commission was informed that France had implemented State aid for the Laboratoire national de métrologie et d’essais (hereinafter referred to as ‘LNE) (2). (2) By letters dated 3 September 2003, 11 February 2004 and 7 June 2004, the Commission requested the French authorities to submit information about the State’s financial assistance for the LNE. The French authorities provided the Commission with information by letters dated 7 November 2003, 5 April 2004 and 6 August 2004. (3) By letter dated 5 July 2005, the Commission informed France that it had decided to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty in respect of certain measures by letters dated 4 November 2005 and 19 April 2006. France provided the information requested in the decision to initiate the procedure. () O] C 263, 22.10.2005, p. 22. (3 LNE is the acronym for the Laboratoire national de métrologie et d'essais, established by Decree of 25 January 2005, following the incorporation of the Bureau national de métrologie into the Labor- atoire national d’essais. (4  The Commission Decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (3). The Commission invited interested parties to submit their comments on the measure. (5 The Commission received comments from interested parties. It forwarded them to France, which was given the opportunity to react; its comments were received by letter dated 1 March 2006. (6)  The Commission sent additional questions on 6 June 2006. The French authorities’ replies were sent on 2 August 2006 and were registered as received by the Commission on the same day. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE MEASURES 2.1. Recipient Status and activities (7)  The LNE was set up in 1901 as part of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. It ranked as a public insti- tution under the supervision of the Ministry of National (%) See footnote 1.