9. 11. 95 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 267/49 COMMISSION DECISION of 26 July 1995 concerning aid granted by the Flemish Region to the Belgian airline Vlaamse Luchttransportmaatschappij NV (Only the Dutch and French texts are authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (95/466/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 93 (2) thereof, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62 (1) (a) thereof, Having given notice to the parties concerned to submit their comments, as it is required to do by those Articles, and having regard to those comments, Whereas : THE FACTS On 25 March 1994 Cityflyer Express Ltd (‘Cityflyer) lodged a complaint with the Commission against a State aid measure ; Cityflyer alleged that the Flemish Region had granted or was preparing to grant State aid to the airline Vlaamse Luchttransportmaatschappij NV (‘VLM), in the form of an interest-free loan of Bfrs 20 million. The Commission brought the allegation to the attention of the Belgian authorities, by letter dated 25 May 1994 ; in order to enable it to examine the transaction in the light of the State aid rules in Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty, it asked them to answer the following questions: — What is the content of the documents (statuten) setting up Vlaamse Luchttransportmaatschappij NV. Who holds the equity in the company? — On what terms (amount, rate of interest, duration, etc.) has the Flemish Region granted or does it propose to grant a loan to Vlaamse Luchttransportmaatschappij NV ? If the transaction has already taken place, please supply a copy of the loan contract and of any docu- ments annexed to it (other conditions, decisions of the Flemish Region, etc.). No reply was received within the one month allowed, and on 14 July 1994 the Commission sent the Belgian autho- rities a reminder. By letter of 3 August 1994 the Belgian authorities sent the Commission answers to the questions set out above. In reply to the question regarding the founding docu- ments, they supplied a copy of VLM’s statuten or consti- tution. It appears that VLM is a public limited company set up under Belgian law, with its registered office at Van Tichelenlei 49, 2610 Wommelgem, Belgium. It was formed on 21 February 1992, for an unlimited duration, with an initial capital of Bfrs 10 million. The capital has since been increased on several occasions ; by the end of 1993 it stood at Bfrs 75 million. It is divided between nine shareholders, made up of five companies, governed by private law, and four individuals. It would thus appear to be an entirely private company. Its objects are stated to be ‘the purchase, sale, exchange, leasing, operation, repair and maintenance of aircraft, on its own account and for others, in Belgium and abroad. The operation of aircraft on scheduled and non-scheduled services'. Turning to the terms of the loan, the Belgian authorities’ answer was as follows : ‘Amount : Bfrs 20 million. Rate of interest: 0 %. Schedule of repayments : two, three, four, five and six years after payment of the loan, instalments of Bfrs 4 million each’. No other documents were supplied; in particular, there was no copy of the loan contract. It should be noted that the transaction had taken place without the Commission’s being informed in advance, as is required by Article 93 (3) of the Treaty. On 16 November 1994 the Commission decided to initiate proceedings pursuant to Article 93 (2) of the Treaty. The misgivings which motivated this step sprang from two considerations : an interest-free loan certainly constitutes State aid within the scope of Article 92 of the Treaty and Article 61 of the EEA Agreement, and on the face of if the loan in question here did not appear to qualify for any of the exemptions pursuant to Article 92 (2) and (3) and Article 61 (2) and (3).