27.3.2007 Official Journal of the European Union L 86/1 (Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is not obligatory) DECISIONS COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 19 July 2006 on the measure No C 35/2005 (ex N 59/2005, which the Netherlands are planning to implement concerning a broadband infrastructure in Appingedam (notified under document number C(2006) 3226) (Text with EEA relevance) (2007/175/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, 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 provision(s) cited above (!) and having regard to their comments, Whereas: L PROCEDURE (1) By letter dated 2 November 2004 (and registered under CP 212/2004 on 18 November 2004), Essent Kabelcom (hereafter: Essent), a cable operator, filed an informal complaint with the Commission. The complaint concerns the public funding of a fibre access network (Fibre To The Home’ or ‘FTTH)) in Appingedam, a town in the north of the Netherlands. Essent later confirmed that the complaint should be qualified as a formal complaint. () O] C 321, 16.12.2005, p. 7. (2) Essent, which is the second largest cable operator in the Netherlands and which also operates a cable network in Appingedam, had also lodged an appeal in a Dutch court in September 2004 (2). The court ordered the municipality on the basis of Article 88(3) EC Treaty to notify the plans to build the network in Appingedam and to grant aid to the Commission and to suspend the further roll-out of the network. (3) By letter registered on 3 February 2005, the Dutch authorities notified the measure to the Commission ‘for reasons of legal certainty’, asserting that the measure did not constitute aid. On 31 March 2005, the Commission requested further information from the Dutch authorities. The authorities, after an extension of the deadline, replied by letter of 4 August 2005, registered on 16 August 2005. (4) By letter dated 20 October 2005, the Commission informed the Dutch authorities that it had decided to initiate the formal investigation procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty with respect to the measure at hand (‘decision to initiate the procedure’). The decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Union of 16 December 2005.(°) The Commission called on interested parties to submit their comments on the measure. (%) Case referred to as LJ-N AQ8920 which can be found at www. rechtspraak.nl. () See footnote 1.