8.4.2003 Official Journal of the European Union L 91/47 COMMISSION DECISION of 11 December 2002 on the existing aid scheme that Italy was authorised to implement for the Trieste Financial Services and Insurance Centre (notified under document number C(2002) 4829) (Only the Italian version is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2003/230/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 called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to the provisions cited above (!) and having regard to their comments, Whereas: I. PROCEDURE (1) In 1998 the Commission adopted a notice on the application of the State aid rules to measures relating to direct business taxation (?) (hereinafter ‘the notice’). (2)  In accordance with paragraph 37 of the notice, the Commission undertook a review of existing tax aid systems in the Member States. As part of the review procedure, it requested information by letter of 12 February 1999 (D/50716) on the tax scheme applicable to the Trieste Financial Services and Insurance Centre. The scheme had already been approved, subject to certain conditions, in 1995 (3). (3) By letter of 2 July 1999 (A[35043), the Italian authorities informed the Commission that the aid scheme had never entered into force owing to the failure to adopt all the necessary implementing legislation. The Commission asked for further information by letters of 1 December 1999 (D/64991), () O] C 115, 16.5.2002, p. 9. (%) Commission notice on the application of the State aid rules to measures relating to direct business taxation (O] C 384, 10.12.1998, p. 3). (®) Decision 95/452[EC, 12.4.1995 (O] L 264, 7.11.1995). 21 March 2000 (D/51237) and 27 July 2000 (D[54024) in order to determine whether the arrangements for implementing the tax scheme were in conformity with the conditional Commission decision that authorised it (). The Italian authorities did not reply to the requests for information. (4) By letter of 27 July 2000 (D/54024), the Commission informed the Italian authorities of its doubts concerning the compatibility of the scheme with the common market and invited them to submit comments within one month of the date of the letter, as provided for in Article 17(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 (°). The Italian authorities did not submit any comments by the deadline set. By letter of 22 September 2000, they confirmed that the Centre was not operational and that the Government was deciding on the appropriate steps to take. (5) By letter of 11 July 2001, the Commission proposed appropriate measures to the Italian authorities aimed at: — abolishing the scheme applicable to the Trieste Centre by 1 January 2002, — publishing a statement by 31 October 2001 on the adoption of the necessary measures to abolish the scheme. (6)  As neither of the two requests had been complied with by 1 January 2002 and as no official reply had been received, the Commission took note of the rejection by the Italian authorities of the appropriate measures proposed. By letter of 27 February 2002, it informed Italy that it had decided to initiate proceedings under () See footnote 3. () OJ L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 1.