14. 10. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 290/21 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 25 March 1987 concerning aid granted by the French Government to two steel groups (Only the French text is authentic) (87/506/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, v Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular the first para- graph of Article 93 (2) thereof; Having given the. parties concerned an opportunity to submit their comments, in accordance with Article 93 (2), and having regard to those comments : Whereas : "1 By letter dated 30 September 1982 from its Permanent Representation, the French Government notified the Commission, under Article 8 (1) of Commission Decision No 2320/81/ECSC (), of certain government funding of investment by two large steel groups. Noting that almost 20 % of the funding was for busi- nesses not coming within the ECSC Treaty, although no details were given, the Commission informed the French Government by letter of 26 November 1982 that the part of the funds to be provided for investment in these busi- nesses would have to be considered under the EEC Treaty. However, the French Government proceeded to provide the funds without notifying them under Article 93 (3) of () OJ No L 228, 13. 8. 1981, p. 14. the EEC Treaty, so that the Commission was unable to assess beforehand whether the transfers were compatible with the EEC Treaty provisions on state aid. Not having any details of the purposes of the funding which potentially distorted competition, the Commission decided to open the Article 93 (2) procedure against the . transfers, which totalled FF 5481 million. It gave the French Government notice by letter dated 20 December 1984 to submit its observations. The other Member States were invited to comment on 3 May 1985 and interested parties on 8 May 1985 (3. By letter of 31 October 1985, supplemented by letter of 14 November 1985, the French Government let the Commission have ‘further information’ about the amount of additional funding intended for non-ECSC businesses of the two steel groups in the 1985 financial year. This additional funding, on top of the FF 5 481 million already covered by the Article 93 (2) procedure, came to FF 2176 million. As too little information had been supplied about the new funding to judge whether Article 92 (3) of the EEC Treaty was applicable, and the new transfers, which the French Government later confirmed by letter of 27 March 1986 had already taken place, were also likely to cause distor- tions of competition, the Commission decided to extend the Article 93 (2) procedure to them. By letter dated 28 January 1986 it therefore gave the French Government notice to submit its observations. The other Member States were invited to comment on 4 March 1986 and other interested parties on 1 March 1986 (3). " () OJ No C 114, 8. 5. 1985, p. 5. () OJ No C 47, 1. 3. 1986, p. 3.