L 314/86 Official Journal of the European Communities 18.11.2002 COMMISSION DECISION of 7 May 2002 on State aid Spain is planning to implement in favour of Ford Espafia SA (notified under document number C(2002) 1803) (Only the Spanish text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2002/899/EC) 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 given interested parties notice, in accordance with the abovementioned Articles, to submit their comments (1), Whereas: I. PROCEDURE By letter dated 15 December 2000, registered on 18 December 2000, Spain notified the Commission of a plan to grant regional aid to Ford Espafia S.A. The Commission requested more information on 7 February 2001. After requesting an extension of the deadline for reply on 14 February 2001, the Spanish authorities submitted additional information on 2 April 2001. By letter dated 6 June 2001 the Commission informed Spain of its decision to initiate proceedings pursuant to Article 88(2) of the Treaty, since it had doubts about the compatibility of the aid with the common market. The Commission decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (%), with an invitation for comments on the aid from interested parties. The Commission received no replies from interested parties. On 24 and 26 October 2001 the Commission carried out on-site visits to the Almusafes (Valencia) and Bridgend (United Kingdom) plants, and on 12 () O] C 219, 4.8.2001, p. 14. (3 See footnote 1. November 2001 requested further information. After requesting an extension of the deadline for reply on 19 November 2001, the Spanish authorities submitted the additional information on 14 January 2002. II. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE AID The 14 project The planned aid would be granted to Ford Espafia SA (Ford), a subsidiary of the automotive group Ford Motor Company Inc. The notified project concerns the production of an engine known as ‘14’, which has never been produced in Europe before. The 14 is a four-cylinder, 16-valve engine, which comes in 1,8, 2,0 and 2,3 litre versions. A 2,5 litre and a diesel version will be developed at a later stage. Among others, the Focus and new Mondeo models will use the new engine from 2003 onwards. According to the company plans, production of the 14 engine at Almusafes will replace production of the smaller HCS and Zetec engines. The former is to be phased out due to obsolescence, and production of the latter is to be concentrated at the group's Bridgend (United Kingdom) factory. Capacity for the new I[4 engine will be 700 000 engines/year, with a reduction of total capacity in the Almusafes plant by 330 000 units/year from 2000 to 2004. A similar reduction should occur at group level, following an increase in capacity at the Bridgend (United Kingdom) plant, and a decrease at the Cologne (Germany) plant. In all, 79 % of the engines produced at Almusafes will be exported to Ford plants in Germany and Sweden. The investment programme covers a three-year period, from August 2000 to August 2003. The Spanish authorities affirm that the technologies employed in the current plant do not allow the production of the 14 engine. For this reason, it is