52001XC1025(01)

State aid

C 25/95 (ex NN 101/94)

Italy

(Articles 87 to 89 of the Treaty establishing the European Community)

Communication from the Commission within the meaning of Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty on aid which Italy intended to grant in the agriculture sector

(Kenaf production)

(2001/C 299/03)

By means of the following letter the Commission informed the Italian authorities of its decision to close the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the Treaty.

"By letter dated 3 March 1994, recorded as received on 13 March 1994, the Permanent Representation of Italy to the European Union notified the Commission of the text of an inter-branch agreement concerning the abovementioned product.

By letter dated 11 May 1994, the Commission requested supplementary information, which the Italian authorities furnished by letter dated 11 August 1994.

By letter of 27 July 1995, the Commission informed Italy of its decision to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the Treaty in respect of the aid measures provided for in the agreement.

The Commission called on the other Member States and interested parties to submit their comments on the aid in question but it did not receive any.

After the procedure had been initiated, by letter dated 13 September 1995 the Italian authorities informed the Commission that, by the date on which the letter was sent, the public authorities had not adopted any measures granting aid either to the growers concerned or to the National Beetgrowers' Association, the body which was the beneficiary of the aid, and that the programme, which had been launched independently and without public aid, had remained practically unimplemented as it had involved only 42 holdings whose production, moreover, had not been processed. In view of this, according to the Italian authorities, the procedure under way lacked the necessary justification as there had been no 'aid' for a programme which had remained substantially unimplemented.

By letter dated 16 December 1999, the Commission asked the Italian authorities to confirm that no aid had been granted in respect of the measure in question, to repeat their undertaking not to grant any aid in future in respect of the measure, and therefore to withdraw the notification. By letter dated 21 January 2000, the Italian authorities confirmed the content of the letter of 13 September 1995, i.e. that no public aid had been granted for the measure in question. In the same letter the Italian authorities confirmed their undertaking not to finance the measure in question in future. According to the Italian authorities, this undertaking is equivalent to a repeal of the decision by the CIPE (Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning) of 30 November 1995 which, in addition to the aid notified, also contains other provisions. Again according to the Italian authorities, the notification is therefore to be regarded as having been withdrawn.

In view of the above, the Commission finds that it is no longer necessary to adopt a decision as to whether the aid planned in the draft notified is compatible with the common market, and hereby informs Italy of its decision that there is no need to proceed".