18.11.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities L 314/97 COMMISSION DECISION of 19 June 2002 on State aid implemented by the Netherlands for operations by Dutch tugboats in seaports and on inland waterways in the Community (notified under document number C(2002) 2158) (Only the Dutch text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2002/901/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 regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 of 22 March 1999 (*) laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the EC Treaty, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to the provisions cited above (%) and having regard to their comments, Whereas: 1. PROCEDURE (1) By complaint lodged on 17 April 2000, the Commission was informed that the Netherlands had allegedly illegally granted State aid in respect of tonnage tax to tugboat operations in ports and on inland waterways in the Community. Three other parties (°) raised concerns about this issue, one of whom filed a formal complaint. (2) By letter of 12 September 2000, the Commission addressed a number of preliminary questions to the Dutch authorities, which were discussed in a meeting and formally replied to by letter of 8 November 2000, as rectified by a corrigendum of the same day. (3)  Furthermore, the complainant who filed the complaint of 17 April 2000 provided numerous additional items () OJ L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 1. () O] C 298, 24.10.2001, p. 5. (®) Letter of 4 August 2000, registered in the DG for Energy and Transport on 9 August 2000. Formal complaint of 4 April 2001, registered in the Secretariat of the Commission on 6 April 2001. of information which led to several meetings between the complainant and Commission staff. (4)  Following a letter from Germany of 18 January 2001, a meeting on this matter was held with the German authorities on 29 March 2001. (5)  On the basis of the information at their disposal, the Commission services held a meeting with the Dutch authorities on 19 April 2001. (6) By letter dated 11 July 2001, the Commission informed the Netherlands that it had decided to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty in respect of the aid. (7)  The Commission decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (*). The Commission invited interested parties to submit their comments. (8)  The Commission received initial comments from the Dutch government and comments from 51 interested parties. It forwarded them to the Netherlands, which was given the opportunity to react; its comments were received by letter of 18 April 2002, registered on 22 April 2002 (A/57255). 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE AID 2.1. Commission Decisions in Cases N 394/88, N 384/91, N 738/95, NN 89/97 and N 8/98 (9) By letter of 23 August 1988, the Netherlands first notified a fiscal facility for the improvement of the competitive position of the Dutch fleet. The Netherlands referred to a 1985 Commission communication to the () See footnote 2.