[autom.vertaling] De Commissie beslist de hulp aan Spaans mijnbouwbedrijf moet worden teruggekregen (en)
The Commission today decided to close the investigation which was opened in February 2003 into aid granted to the Spanish coalmining company González y Diez S.A.. The Commission has concluded that the aid with regard to the years 1998 and 2000 has been in part abused and that the aid for 2001 can only partly be authorised. The Commission therefore requires Spain to take all the necessary measures in order to recover the abused aid related to the years 1998, 2000 and part of the aid for 2001.
The procedure had been opened in order to replace an earlier decision of 2 July 2002(1) (IP/02/979) and to adopt a new decision under the new procedural rules that have applied since the expiry of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty on 23 July 2002. The decision of 2 July 2002 had been challenged before the Court of First Instance. In the light of this appeal the Commission considered that reopening the procedure was the best way to overcome possible transitional problems and that the procedural rules that apply following the expiry of the ECSC Treaty offer better opportunities to guarantee the rights of Member States, the company concerned and third parties. The Commission therefore reopened the investigation into the possible abuse of aid for the years 1998 and 2000 and the aid granted in 2001. The Commission requested Spain and all other interested parties to submit their comments on this aid which the Commission considered possibly unlawful and to supply all information that could help to evaluate the aid.
Having taken into account all comments submitted, the Commission has come to the conclusion that the conditions as laid down in the Commission Decisions approving this aid for the years 1998 and 2000 have not been respected and that a part of the aid has to be recovered. The aid for the year 2001 was paid without prior Commission approval and has therefore been assessed on the basis of the specific provisions of the new Council Regulation(2) which entered into force following the expiry of the ECSC Treaty on 23 July 2002. The Commission has concluded that only a part of this aid is compatible with that Regulation and that the other part has to be recovered as well.
(1)2002/827/ECSC
(2)Council Regulation 1407/2002. After the expiry of the ECSC Treaty the procedural rules that apply are based on Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty.