28. 4. 94 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 107/61 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 26 January 1994 requiring France to suspend the payment to Groupe Bull of aid granted in breach of Article 93(3) of the EC Treaty (Only the French text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (94/220/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 93(2) and (3) thereof, Whereas : ) @ In a letter dated 6 December 1993, the French authorities informed the Commission that they intended to proceed with a further recapitalization of Groupe Bull (‘Bull’), amounting to FF 8,6 billion of which FF 7 billion would be subscribed to by the French State and the remainder by France Télécom. The letter also stated that, of this total amount FF 4,5 billion would be paid by the French State in respect of Bull’s 1993 financial year. The French authorities have indicated to the Commissioner responsible for competition policy that the French State has already made this payment, a fact subse- quently confirmed by the French Permanent Representation. Moreover, it is understood that the capital injection from France Télécom, amounting to FF 1,6 billion, has also been paid. These payments were made in breach of Article 93 (3) of the EC Treaty and, taking account of the fact that the Commission has not already taken a decision on these aids, must therefore be deemed to be unlawful. By letter dated 8 December 1993, the Commission asked the French Government to delay making the capital injections until it could take a decision in respect thereof, in addition, this letter requested full details of Bull’s plans for restructuring. @) “ On 17 December 1993, the Commission wrote a further letter to the French authorities stating, in connection with the amount of the capital injec- tions not paid for 1993, that it required full details regarding the capital injections ; it enclosed a list of points to this effect. In addition, the letter stated that, if a reply setting out the requested data had not been received within 15 working days, the Commission would be obliged to initiate the Article 93 (2) procedure and take a suspensory decision in respect of the measure. The deadline for a response within 15 working days expired on 11 January 1994. Whilst a reply was received on 11 January referring to both of the above letters of the Commission, no answers tp any of the questions raised were provided. On the basis of the information available to it the Commission understands the aid measure to consist of a further capital injection, by the French State, amounting to FF 2,5 billion. That injection can be considered to be aid, as it would not be made by a private investor acting under normal market economy conditions. This is evidenced by the critical financial condition of Bull and the fact that all but FF 4 billion of the current recapitalization is forecast to be eliminated by the end of Bull’s restructuring. Moreover, the injection does not meet the criteria set out in either the 1984 Communication from the Commission  concerning  public  authorities’ holdings in company capital or the 1993 Commis- sion Communication concerning public under- takings in the manufacturing sector.