No L 274/30 Official Journal of the European Communities 26. 10. 96 COMMISSION DECISION of 17 July 1996 concerning aid granted by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (Italy) to Acciaierie di Bolzano (Only the Italian text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (96/617/ECSC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, Having regard to Commission Decision No 3855/91/ ECSC of 27 November 1991 establishing Community rules for aid to the steel industry ('), and in particular Article 6 (4) thereof, Having given the interested parties notice to submit their comments () in accordance with the abovementioned provisions and having regard to those comments, Whereas: By letter dated 1 August 1995 the Commission informed the Italian Government of its decision to initiate the procedure under Article 6 (4) of Decision No 3855/91/ ECSC in respect of the aid granted to Acciaierie di Bolzano (ACB). Following a complaint, the Commission, by letter of 21 December 1994, asked the Italian authorities for informa- tion on aid granted to ACB, at the time controlled by the steel group Falck. . On the basis of the information available to it, confirmed by the data sent by the Italian Government on 7 April 1995, the Commission concluded that ACB had, in the period 1982-1990, received aid from the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, under Provincial Law No 25/81, as follows: — by Decision 784 of 14 February 1983: (a) loan of Lit 5600 million, (b) non-repayable grant of Lit 8 000 million, — by Decision 3082 of 1 July 1985: (c) loan of Lit 12941 million, () OJ No L 362, 31. 12. 1991, p. 57. () O] No C 344, 22. 12. 1995, p. 8. — by Decision 6346 of 3 December 1985: (d) non-repayable grant of Lit 10 234 million, — by Decision 7673 of 14 December 1987: (e) loan of Lit 6 321 million, — by Decision 2429 of 2 May 1988: (f) non-repayable grant of Lit 3 750 million, — by Decision 4158 of 4 July 1588: (g) loan of Lit 987 million, (h) non-repayable grant of Lit 650 million, amounting to a total of Lit 25 849 million (ECU 12,025 million) in the form of 10-year loans at 3 %, i.e. about nine percentage points below the normal market rate in Italy at the time (about 12 %) and outright grants total- ling Lit 22 634 million (ECU 10,5 million). Apart from the loan of Lit 5,6 billion which was the subject of Commission Decision 91/176/ECSC (*), none of the other aid measures were ever notified to the Commis- sion, much less authorized by it. : Accordingly, the Commission concluded that the aid granted to ACB was illegal, as it had not been notified, and incompatible with the common market as it did not appear to qualify for exemption from the prohibition under Article 4 (c) of the Treaty. For those reasons, the Commission decided to initiate the procedure provided for in Article 6 (4) of Decision No 3855/91/ECSC in respect of the abovementioned aid. 11 As part of the procedure, the Commission asked the Italian Government to submit its comments, other Member States and interested parties being invited to do so in a notice of commencement of the procedure, published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. () OJ No L 86, 6. 4. 1991, p. 28.