15. 6. 93 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 143/7 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 9 March 1993 concerning aid provided by the United Kingdom Government to British Aerospace for its purchase of Rover Group Holdings over and above those authorized in Commission Decision 89/58/EEC authorizing a maximum aid to this operation subject to certain conditions (Only the English text is authentic) (93/349/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular the first subpara- graph of Article 93 (2) thereof, Having given notice in accordance with the above Article to interested parties to submit their comments, Whereas : On 28 April 1992 the Commission initiated the proce- dure (') provided for in Article 93 (2) in respect of measures taken by the United Kingdom Government over and above those authorized in Decision 89/58/EEC (3 (the ‘1988 Decision’). The Commission considered that these measures constituted State aid within the meaning of Article 92 (1) to British Aerospace (BAe) for its purchase of the Rover Group. The value of the measures was estimated at £ 44,4 million. The Commission con- sidered, furthermore, that the aid measures were illegal in that they were in breach of the 1988 Decision and because they had not been notified to the Commission. () OJ No C 122, 14. 5. 1992, p. 3. () O] No L 25, 28. 1. 1989, p. 92. The measures taken by the United Kingdom Government cited in the opening of the procedure had been the subject of a Commission Decision of 17 July 1990 (%) (the 1990 Decision’). By a ruling of 4 February 1992 (%), the Court of Justice of the European Communities annulled the 1990 Decision in so far as that Decision required the United Kingdom Government to recover from BAe the State aid which the Commission considered these measures entailed. This Court ruling followed an appeal by BAe against the 1990 Decision. The Court found for BAe on procedural grounds, namely that in taking its 1990 Decision the Commission had failed to observe the procedural rules laid down in Article 93 (2). The Court did not pronounce on the substantive issues of the 1990 Decision. ' By letter dated 13 July 1992, the United Kingdom Government confirmed that it had no observations on the letter of 28 April 1992 opening the present procedure. | The Commission did receive observations from BAe on 18 June 1992. These observations are summarized in Part VIII below and considered in Part IX. They were commu- nicated to the United Kingdom Government on 23 June 1992 ; the United Kingdom Government did not make any comments on them. () OJ No C 21, 29. 1. 1991, p. 2. () Case C-294/90, British Aerospace and Rover Group Holdings v. Commission, [1992] ECR 1-493.