5. 4. 96 : Official Journal of the European Communities No L 88/7 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 31 October 1995 concerning the aid granted by Spain to Seat SA, a member of the Volkswagen group (Only the Spanish text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (96/257/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 the parties concerned the opportunity to submit their comments, in accordance with the above- mentioned Articles, Whereas: INITIATION OF THE PROCEDURE IN ARTICLE 93 (2) OF THE TREATY By letter dated 15 June 1995, the Commission informed Spain of its decision (') of 7 June 1995 to initiate the procedure provided for by Article 93 (2) of the Treaty with regard to the State aid measures proposed by the Spanish authorities for Seat SA (Seat), a motor vehicle manufac- turer belonging to the Volkswagen group (the VW group). () OJ No C 237, 12. 9. 1995, pp. 2 and 12. By initiating the procedure, the Commission was expres- sing serious doubts about the compatibility of the aid with Article 92 of the Treaty, for the following reasons: — in 1994 the Spanish authorities concluded two aid agreements, one on 11 July between the Spanish central authorities and the Catalan' regional authorities and VW-Seat and the other on 29 July between the Catalan regional authorities and VW-Seat, committing Pta 46 billion in State aid to Seat, to be granted by the Ministry of Industry and Energy (Pta 38 billion) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (Pta 8 billion), — as a result of these agreements, the ICO (Instituto de Crédito Oficial) and the ICF (Instituto Catalan de Finanzas), which are publicly-owned credit institu- tions, granted Volkswagen AG two loans, amounting to Pta 30 billion and Pta 6 billion respectively, as an advance on the future grants from the Spanish autho- rities to Seat, — having examined the aid agreements and the loan contracts, the Commission concluded that State aid had been granted to Seat illegally in the form of the ICO and the ICF loans to the VW group, — by letter dated 24 February 1995, the Spanish authori- ties notified their proposal to grant State aid to Seat, in accordance with approved programmes, in support of the eligible costs incurred in 1994 in paying for 30 R&D projects under its multiannual investment plan for 1994 to 1996. Having examined the information supplied, the Commission informed the Spanish authorities that it could not adopt a position concer-