16.12.2003 Official Journal of the European Union L 327/39 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 24 June 2003 on State aid which the Netherlands proposes to implement to assist NV Huisvuilcentrale Noord- Holland (HVC) (notified under document number C(2003) 1909) (Only the Dutch text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2003/879/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com- munity, 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 ('), Whereas: 1. PROCEDURE By letter dated 27 November 2001, the Dutch authori- ties notified the Commission of the abovementioned aid in accordance with Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty which it proposes to implement for the construction of a container terminal. The notification was registered by the Secretariat-General of the Commission on 5 December 2001 under the reference N 840/2001. By letter dated 5 February 2002, the Commission requested further information. A technical meeting took place between Dutch representatives and the Directorate- General for Energy and Transport (DG TREN) on 26 March 2002. The replies from the Dutch authorities were received on 28 May 2002 and on 5 June 2002, registered respectively under numbers SG (2002) A/ 5441 and DG TREN A[59943. By letter dated 17 July 2002, the Commission informed the Netherlands of its decision to initiate the procedure in accordance with Article 88(2) of the Treaty with regard to the proposed aid. This procedure was regis- tered as C 51/2002. () O] C 212, 6.9.2002, p. 2. 3) (6) The Commission's decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Commu- nities (). The Commission called on interested parties to submit their comments. The Netherlands submitted its comments to the Commission by letter dated 11 October 2002, which was registered on 16 October 2002. The Commission received no comments from interested parties. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE AID 2.1. Objective By means of the construction of a container terminal at Alkmaar (province of North Holland), the aid is intended to promote household waste transport by inland water- ways instead of by road. The terminal, primarily intended for the transshipment of household waste from the municipalities, is located in the immediate vicinity of a waste incineration plant at Alkmaar and has been operational since April 2001. The terminal will consti- tute an essential link in the chain of transport by water to Alkmaar coming from the municipality of Zaanstad and the province of Flevoland. The overall cost of constructing the terminal is EUR 7 714 262. The term- inal consists of a quay wall along North Holland Canal, a travelling container crane and an area for the transfer of goods. () See footnote 1.