No L 54/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 5. 3. 96 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 16 January 1996 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (IV/35.545 — LH/SAS) (Only the German and Swedish texts are authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (96/180/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3975/87 of 14 December 1987 laying down the procedure for the application of the rules on competition to undertakings in the air transport sector ('), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2410/92 (3, and in particular Article 5 thereof, Having regard to the notice pursuant to Article 5 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 3975/87 (%), Having regard to the notice pursuant to Article 16 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 3975/87 (), Having consulted the Advisory Committee on Agree- ments and Dominant Positions in Air Transport, () OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1987, p. 1. () O] No L 240, 24. 8. 1992, p. 18. () OJ No C 141, 7. 6. 1995, p. 9. () O] No C 201, 5. 8. 1995, p. 2. Whereas: (2) @) ) 1. THE FACTS A. The notification On 11 May 1995 Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Lufthansa) and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) notified a general cooperation agreement concluded by them on that date and providing for the establishment of an integrated air transport system between the two airlines. The parties requested the Commission to find that their agreement does not infringe Article 85 (1) of the EC Treaty or, in the alternative, that the condi- tions are met for granting exemption under Article 85 (3) of the EC Treaty and Article 53 (3) of the EEA Agreement. The Commission published a summary of the application in the Official Journal of the Euro- pean Communities on 7 June 1995 pursuant to Article 5 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 3975/87. On 26 July 1995 the Commission sent Lufthansa and SAS a letter notifying them that there were serious doubts within the meaning of Article 5 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 3975/87. On 5 August 1995 the Commission published a notice in the Official Journal of the European Communities pursuant to Article 16 (3) of Regula- tion (EEC) No 3975/87 inviting interested third