11.8.2010

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 217/1

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Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 TFEU

Cases where the Commission raises no objections

(Text with EEA relevance)

2010/C 217/01

Date of adoption of the decision	9.6.2010
Reference number of State Aid	N 63/10
Member State	Spain
Region	Murcia
Title (and/or name of the beneficiary)	Garantía para la obtención de financiación para la construcción del Aeropuerto Internacional de la Región de Murcia
Legal basis	Ley 4/1997, de 24 de julio de construcción y explotación de infraestructuras de la Región de Murcia (BORM no 195 de 25 de agosto de 1997) Orden FOM 1252/2003, de 21 de mayo, por la que se autoriza la construcción del Aeropuerto de la Región de Murcia, se declara de interés general del Estado y se determina el modo de gestión de sus servicio Acuerdo del Consejo de Gobierno de 18 de marzo de 2004 por el que se declara como Actuación de Interés Regional el Aeropuerto de Murcia Ley 14/2009, de 23 de diciembre de presupuestos generales de la región de Murcia (BORM no 300 de 30 de diciembre de 2009)
Type of measure	Individual aid
Objective	Regional development
Form of aid	Guarantee
Budget	Overall budget: EUR 200 million
Intensity	11 %
Duration (period)	2010-2015
Economic sectors	Air transport
Name and address of the granting authority	Consejería de Economía y Hacienda de la Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia Avda. TTe Flomesta s/n 30071 Murcia ESPAÑA
Other information	—

The authentic text(s) of the decision, from which all confidential information has been removed, can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/state_aids/state_aids_texts_en.htm

Date of adoption of the decision	2.6.2010
Reference number of State Aid	N 160/10
Member State	Ireland
Region	—
Title (and/or name of the beneficiary)	Recapitalisation of EBS
Legal basis	Building Societies Act 1989, CIFS Act 2008
Type of measure	Individual aid
Objective	Aid to remedy serious disturbances in the economy
Form of aid	Other forms of equity intervention, Direct grant
Budget	Overall budget: EUR 875 million
Intensity	—
Duration (period)	—
Economic sectors	Financial intermediation
Name and address of the granting authority	Irish Minister for Finance
Other information	—

The authentic text(s) of the decision, from which all confidential information has been removed, can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/state_aids/state_aids_texts_en.htm

Date of adoption of the decision	28.6.2010
Reference number of State Aid	N 225/10
Member State	Hungary
Region	—
Title (and/or name of the beneficiary)	Liquidity scheme for strengthening the Hungarian real economy recovery
Legal basis	Az államháztartásról szóló 1992. évi XXXVIII. törvény 8/B. §-a alapján
Type of measure	Aid scheme
Objective	Aid to remedy serious disturbances in the economy
Form of aid	Soft loan
Budget	Overall budget: EUR 4 000 million
Intensity	—
Duration (period)	1.7.2010-31.12.2010
Economic sectors	Financial intermediation
Name and address of the granting authority	Pénzügyminisztérium Budapest József nádor tér 2–4. 1051 MAGYARORSZÁG/HUNGARY
Other information	—

The authentic text(s) of the decision, from which all confidential information has been removed, can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/state_aids/state_aids_texts_en.htm

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11.8.2010

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 217/4

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Non-opposition to a notified concentration

(Case COMP/M.5774 — Holtzbrinck/Bertelsmann/JV)

(Text with EEA relevance)

2010/C 217/02

On 3 August 2010, the Commission decided not to oppose the above notified concentration and to declare it compatible with the common market. This decision is based on Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004. The full text of the decision is available only in German and will be made public after it is cleared of any business secrets it may contain. It will be available:

—	in the merger section of the Competition website of the Commission (http://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/). This website provides various facilities to help locate individual merger decisions, including company, case number, date and sectoral indexes,

—	in electronic form on the EUR-Lex website (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm) under document number 32010M5774. EUR-Lex is the on-line access to the European law.

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11.8.2010

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 217/4

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Non-opposition to a notified concentration

(Case COMP/M.5909 — Rettig/Nordkalk)

(Text with EEA relevance)

2010/C 217/03

On 6 August 2010, the Commission decided not to oppose the above notified concentration and to declare it compatible with the common market. This decision is based on Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004. The full text of the decision is available only in English and will be made public after it is cleared of any business secrets it may contain. It will be available:

—	in the merger section of the Competition website of the Commission (http://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/). This website provides various facilities to help locate individual merger decisions, including company, case number, date and sectoral indexes,

—	in electronic form on the EUR-Lex website (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm) under document number 32010M5909. EUR-Lex is the on-line access to the European law.

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11.8.2010

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 217/5

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Euro exchange rates (1)

10 August 2010

2010/C 217/04

1 euro =

	Currency	Exchange rate
USD	US dollar	1,3133
JPY	Japanese yen	113,23
DKK	Danish krone	7,4501
GBP	Pound sterling	0,83520
SEK	Swedish krona	9,4029
CHF	Swiss franc	1,3895
ISK	Iceland króna
NOK	Norwegian krone	7,8980
BGN	Bulgarian lev	1,9558
CZK	Czech koruna	24,775
EEK	Estonian kroon	15,6466
HUF	Hungarian forint	279,05
LTL	Lithuanian litas	3,4528
LVL	Latvian lats	0,7081
PLN	Polish zloty	3,9841
RON	Romanian leu	4,2365
TRY	Turkish lira	1,9696
AUD	Australian dollar	1,4468
CAD	Canadian dollar	1,3595
HKD	Hong Kong dollar	10,1960
NZD	New Zealand dollar	1,8288
SGD	Singapore dollar	1,7806
KRW	South Korean won	1 534,88
ZAR	South African rand	9,5455
CNY	Chinese yuan renminbi	8,8937
HRK	Croatian kuna	7,2205
IDR	Indonesian rupiah	11 765,68
MYR	Malaysian ringgit	4,1382
PHP	Philippine peso	58,987
RUB	Russian rouble	39,4723
THB	Thai baht	41,980
BRL	Brazilian real	2,3077
MXN	Mexican peso	16,6640
INR	Indian rupee	60,9400

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(1)  Source: reference exchange rate published by the ECB.

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11.8.2010

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 217/6

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DECISION TO CLOSE THE FORMAL INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE AFTER WITHDRAWAL BY MEMBER STATE

State aid — Spain

(Articles 107 to 109 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union)

Commission notice pursuant to Article 108(2) TFEU — Withdrawal of notification

State aid C 22/08 (ex N 222/07 and N 242/07) — Aid to El Pozo Alimentación, S.A.

2010/C 217/05

The Commission has decided to close the formal investigation procedure initiated under Article 108(2) of the TFEU on 20 May 2008 in respect of the measure referred to above (1), in view of the fact that Spain withdrew its notification on 7 June 2010.

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(1)  OJ C 266, 21.10.2008, p. 16.

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11.8.2010

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 217/6

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DECISION TO CLOSE THE FORMAL INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE AFTER WITHDRAWAL BY MEMBER STATE

State aid — Spain

(Articles 107 to 109 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union)

Commission notice pursuant to Article 108(2) TFEU — Withdrawal of notification

State aid C 23/08 (ex N 281/07) — Aid to J. García Carrión La Mancha, S.A.

2010/C 217/06

The Commission has decided to close the formal investigation procedure initiated under Article 108(2) of the TFEU on 20 May 2008 in respect of the measure referred to above (1), in view of the fact that Spain withdrew its notification on 7 June 2010.

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(1)  OJ C 269, 24.10.2008, p. 2.

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11.8.2010

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 217/7

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COMMISSION DECISION

of 10 August 2010

establishing the European Regulators Group for Postal Services

(Text with EEA relevance)

2010/C 217/07

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Whereas:

(1)

Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of services establishes a regulatory framework concerning the conditions governing the provision of postal services within the European Union and the establishment of the internal market for postal services.

(2)

Directive 97/67/EC requires Member States to designate one or more national regulatory authorities for the postal sector, in order to carry out regulatory tasks specified in that Directive. Those national regulatory authorities should be legally separate from and operationally independent of the postal operators of Member States. Member States that retain ownership or control of postal service providers must also ensure effective structural separation of the regulatory functions from activities associated with ownership or control.

(3)	The responsibilities and tasks of the national regulatory authorities differ significantly between the Member States.

(4)	Directive 97/67/EC leaves flexibility in certain areas to apply the common rules in the light of national conditions. In order to achieve a successful development of an internal market for postal services, a consistent application of the relevant rules in all Member States is essential.

(5)	It is therefore necessary to set up a group composed of the national regulatory authorities in the field of postal services and to define its tasks and its structure.

(6)

The group should serve as a body for reflection, discussion and advice to the Commission in the postal services field. It should facilitate consultation, coordination and cooperation between the independent national regulatory authorities in the Member States, and between those authorities and the Commission, with a view to consolidating the internal market for postal services and ensuring the consistent application in all Member States of Directive 97/67/EC.

(7)	Rules on disclosure of information by members of the group should be provided for, without prejudice to the Commission’s rules on security as set out in the Annex to Commission Decision 2001/844/EC, ECSC, Euratom (1).

(8)

Personal data relating to members of the group should be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (2),

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Subject matter

The European Regulators Group for Postal Services, hereafter referred to as ‘the group’, is hereby established.

Article 2

Tasks

The group's tasks shall be:

(a)	to advise and assist the Commission in consolidating the internal market for postal services;

(b)	to advise and assist the Commission on any matter related to postal services within its competence;

(c)	to advise and assist the Commission as to the development of the internal market for postal services and as to the consistent application in all Member States of the regulatory framework for postal services;

(d)	to consult, in agreement with the Commission, extensively and at an early stage of its expert work with market participants, consumers and end-users in an open and transparent manner.

Article 3

Membership

1.   The group shall be composed of the national regulatory authorities in the field of postal services. They will be represented by the heads, or in exceptional cases other representatives, of these authorities, as listed in the Annex. There shall be one member per Member State.

2.   The names of the national authorities shall be published in the Register of Commission expert groups.

Article 4

Operation

1.   The group shall elect a chairperson from among its members. The chairperson shall convene the meetings of the group in agreement with the Commission.

2.   In agreement with the services of the Commission, sub-groups may be set up to study specific subjects under terms of reference established by the group.

3.   The independent national regulatory authorities for the postal sector from European Economic Area (EEA) States, which are not Member States, and from those States that are candidates for accession to the European Union shall have observer status and shall be represented at an appropriate level. The group may, with the agreement of the Commission's representative, also invite on an ad hoc basis other experts and observers to attend meetings.

4.   Members of expert groups and their representatives, as well as invited experts and observers, shall comply with the obligations of professional secrecy laid down by the Treaties and their implementing rules, as well as with the Commission's rules on security regarding the protection of EU classified information, laid down in the Annex to Commission Decision 2001/844/EC, ECSC, Euratom. Should they fail to respect these obligations, the Commission may take all appropriate measures.

5.   The group and its sub-groups shall normally meet on Commission's premises in accordance with the procedures and schedule established by it. The Commission shall provide secretarial services. Other Commission officials with an interest in the proceedings may attend meetings of the group and its sub-groups.

6.   The group shall adopt its rules of procedure on the basis of the standard rules of procedure adopted by the Commission (3).

Article 5

Meeting expenses

1.   The Commission shall reimburse travel and, where appropriate, subsistence expenses for members, experts and observers in connection with the group’s activities in accordance with the Commission’s rules on the compensations of external experts.

2.   The members, experts and observers shall not be remunerated for the services they render.

3.   Meeting expenses are reimbursed within the limits of the annual budget allocated to the group by the responsible Commission services.

Article 6

Annual report

The Group shall submit an annual report of its activities to the Commission.

Article 7

Applicability

1.   This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

2.   The Group shall take up its duties on the date of entry into force of this Decision.

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(1)  OJ L 317, 3.12.2001, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.

(3)  See standard rules of procedure — Annex III to document SEC(2005) 1004.

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11.8.2010

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 217/10

---

COMMISSION DECISION

of 10 August 2010

setting up the Expert Group on the Internet of Things

2010/C 217/08

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Whereas:

(1)

In accordance with the Communication from the Commission entitled ‘Internet of Things — An action plan for Europe’ (hereinafter ‘the Communication’), it is important that a multi-stakeholder mechanism is put in place at European level to advise the Commission on the formulation of the EU strategy to be followed in carrying out the various actions listed in the Communication.

(2)	It is therefore necessary to set up an expert group in the field of the Internet of Things and to define its tasks and its structure.

(3)	The group should facilitate dialogue among stakeholders.

(4)

The group shall be composed of organisations with competence in the areas of Law, Economics and Technology as these apply to the Internet of Things. These organisations may be industry and trade associations, European Standardisation Organisations, international partners, consumer organisations and civil society, research organisations and academia, as well as observers from EU Member States and interested EU institutions such as the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee.

(5)	Rules on disclosure of information by members of the group should be provided for, without prejudice to the Commission’s rules on security as set out in the Annex to Commission Decision 2001/844/EC, ECSC, Euratom (1).

(6)

Personal data relating to members of the group should be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (2).

(7)	It is appropriate to fix a period for the application of this Decision. The Commission will in due time consider the advisability of an extension,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Subject matter

The group of experts on the Internet of Things, hereinafter referred to as ‘the group’, is hereby set up with effect from the date of the publication of this Decision in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 2

Task

The group’s task shall be to:

(a)	advise the Commission on how best to address the technical, legal and organisational challenges at European level;

(b)	bring about an exchange of experience and good practice and solicit oral and written contributions within a group of multiple stakeholders, including international input where needed;

(c)	contribute to a shared vision for the development and deployment of the Internet of Things in the framework of the Digital Agenda for Europe, a flagship of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

Article 3

Consultation

1.   The Commission may consult the group on any matter it shall deem relevant with regard to the development of the Internet of Things in Europe, while encouraging members to suggest further topics for discussion.

Article 4

Membership — Appointment

1.   The group shall be composed of up to 45 members.

2.   The members shall be organisations with competence in the areas of Law, Economics and Technology as these apply to the Internet of Things.

3.   The Commission shall select a number of organisations which shall nominate their representatives as well as alternate representatives.

4.   Members of the group shall remain in office until such time as they are replaced or their term of office ends.

5.   Members who are no longer capable of contributing effectively to the group’s discussions, who resign or who do not comply with the conditions set out in paragraph 3 of this Article or in Article 339 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union may be replaced for the remainder of their term of office.

6.   The names of organisations shall be published in the Register of expert groups.

7.   The names of members shall be collected, processed and published in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.

Article 5

Operation

1.   The group shall be chaired by a representative of the Commission.

2.   With the agreement of the Commission, sub-groups may be set up to examine specific questions on the basis of terms of reference established by the group. Such sub-groups shall be dissolved as soon as their mandate has been fulfilled.

3.   The Commission’s representative may invite on an ad hoc basis experts from outside the group with specific competence in a subject on the agenda to participate in the work of the group or sub-group. In addition, the Commission's representative may give observer status to individuals and bodies.

4.   Members of expert groups and their representatives, as well as invited experts and observers, shall comply with the obligations of professional secrecy laid down by the treaties and their implementing rules, as well as with the Commission's rules on security regarding the protection of EU classified information, laid down in the Annex to Commission Decision 2001/844/EC, ECSC, Euratom. Should they fail to comply with this provision, the Commission may take all appropriate measures.

5.   The Commission shall provide secretarial services. Other Commission officials with an interest in the proceedings may attend meetings of the group and its sub-groups.

6.   The group shall adopt its rules of procedure on the basis of the standard rules of procedure for expert groups.

7.   The Commission shall publish relevant information on the activities carried out by the group either by including it in the Register or via a link from the Register to a dedicated website.

Article 6

Meeting expenses

1.   Participants in the activities of the group shall not be remunerated for the services they render.

2.   Travel and subsistence expenses incurred by participants in the activities of the group shall be reimbursed by the Commission in accordance with the provisions in force within the Commission.

3.   These expenses shall be reimbursed within the limits of the annual budget allocated to the group by the Commission departments in charge.

Article 7

Applicability

This Decision shall apply until 31 December 2012.

Article 8

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

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(1)  OJ L 317, 3.12.2001, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.

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11.8.2010

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 217/12

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Corrigendum to the adoption of a Council Decision establishing the organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service

( Official Journal of the European Union C 210 of 3 August 2010 )

2010/C 217/09

On page 1:

for: