No L 6/30 Official Journal of the European Communities 8. 1. 94 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 21 December 1993 authorizing common financial arrangements in respect of individual programmes involving the closure of production capacity in the Community steel industry for heavy sections, hot-rolled wide coils and strip, and reversing-mill plate (Only the Spanish, Danish, German, English, French, Italian and Dutch texts are authentic) (94/6/BCSC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, and in particular point (a) of the first paragraph of Article 53 thereof, Having regard to the application made in Brussels on 14 July 1993 by the European Confederation of the Iron and Steel Industry (Eurofer) on behalf of 17 Community steel companies, After consulting the ECSC Consultative Committee and the Council, _ Whereas : I. THE FACTS For over a year the Community steel industry in general has had to contend with a steady loss of outlets and a decline in prices. There are several factors that explain this situation, which presents both cyclical and structural problems. The Commission communication to the Council and the European Parliament of 23 November 1992 stressed that overcapacity was one of the main causes of the structural problems. Three million tonnes of new capacity for the production of hot-rolled wide strip were added to existing capacity between 1986 and 1991. In order to identify the product categories and quantities that should be the subject of a reorganization,- the Commission, in agreement with the Council, requested an appraisal of the reductions in production capacity needed following individual consultations with a large number of steel company managers. A report on the results of this appraisal was presented to the Council meeting of 25 February 1993, which was devoted to the restructuring of the steel industry. The Council announced that it would take prompt action as regards the procedures for monitoring State aid pursuant to Article 95 of the ECSC Treaty in cases where produc- tion capacity was to be closed down; it also noted that the report stressed that companies should consider making a greater effort to reduce production capacity and restore profitability. The Council welcomed the Commis- sion’s intention of examining the common financial arrangements provided for in point (a) of the first para- graph of Article 53 of the ECSC Treaty, as part of this effort. : Through Eurofer three groups of companies producing three separate categories of products applied on 14 July 1993 for authorization for common financing arrange- ments in respect of individual and unilateral closure programmes involving production capacity for heavy sections, hot-rolled wide coils and strip, and reversing- mill plate. In the communication it sent to the Council and the ECSC -Consultative Committee on 8 September 1993, pursuant to point (a) of the first paragraph of Article 53, the Commission asked the Council and the Committee for their views and informed them of the approach it was considering with a view to authorizing these arrange- ments. The arrangements are as follows : — the parties to the financial arrangements that neither reduce nor close down capacity (hereinafter referred to as ‘the other parties’) will contribute to the financing of the capacity reductions of the parties that opt for closure (hereinafter referred to as ‘the parties opting