No L 301/68 * Official Journal of the European Communities 4, 11. 88 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 11 October 1988 _ relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EEC Treaty (IV/32.368 — BBC Brown Boveri) \V (Only the German text is authentic) (88/541/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, : Having regard to Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, First Regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty ('), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal, and in particular Articles 4, 6 and 8 thereof, ' Having regard to the notification submitted on 17 June 1987 by BBC Brown Boveri Aktiengesellschaft, Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany, concerning a set of cooperation agreements with the Japanese company NGK Insulators Ltd, Nagoya, - Having regard to the summary of the notification (3 published pursuant to Article 19 (3) of Regulation No 17, After consulting the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions, Whereas : 1. THE FACTS A. The subject matter of the notification (1) On 17 June 1987 the electrical engineering | company BBC Brown Boveri Aktiengesellschaft, () OJ No 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62. ) O] No C 72, 18. 3. 1988, p. 4. Mannheim (%), notified a set of cooperation agreements with the Japanese company NGK Insulators Ltd, Nagoya, an internationally known manufacturer of technical precision ceramics. 2 The cooperation relates to the development of sodium-sulphur high-performance batteries intended primarily for use in electrically driven vehicles. The batteries are also intended for storing off-peak electricity for use during peak-load periods 'in national grid systems. "~ (3)  Currently, lead-acid batteries are used which store ~ relatively little energy per kilogram of battery. Large battery manufacturers and other firms are working on the development of batteries with more efficient energy storage. ) BBC has been developing since 1972 a sodium- sulphur battery which can store four times as much electrical energy as a lead-acid battery. High-capacity batteries are however still at the development stage and, other than NiFe batteries developed and sold by a Prench firm, not yet on the market. No real market therefore exists up to now for high-performance batteries. (4 Under the cooperation arrangement, a joint venture, NEWCO, in which NGK has a 60 % stake and BBC a 40 % stake, has been set up in Japan to develop the sodium-sulphur battery. BBC has brought the development of the sodium- sulphur battery to a highly advanced stage. The () Because of the merger of the Swiss parent company BBC Brown Boveri AG with the Swedish company Asea AB the name of the company is, since 13 June 1988, ‘Asea Brown Boveri Aktiengesellschaft’ (ABB).