12.3.2004 Official Journal of the European Union L75/59 COMMISSION DECISION of 16 October 2003 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Cases COMP D3/35470 — ARA and COMP D3/35473 — ARGEV, ARO) (notified under document number C(2003) 3703) (Only the German text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2004/208/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com- munity, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, Having regard to the Act concerning the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, Having regard to Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, first Regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 (3), and in particular Articles 2, 6 and 8 thereof, Having regard to the applications for negative clearance or exemption of the agreements underlying the ARA system which were entered into by Alstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA) and ARGEV Verpackungsverwertungs-Gesellschaft mbH (ARGEV) on 30 June 1994 and by ARA, ARGEV and Altpapier-Recycling-Organisations GmbH (ARO) on 31 August 2001, Having regard to the complaint submitted by FRS Folien- Riicknahme-Service GmbH & Co KG and Raiffeisen Umweltge- sellschaft mbH on 8 May 1996 alleging infringements of Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty and asking the Commission to put an end to the infringements, a complaint which was taken up and elaborated on by EVA Erfassen und Verwerten von Altstoffen GmbH on 27 April 2000, Having regard to the decision of 24 July 2002 to initiate proceedings in this case, Having given the third parties concerned the opportunity to make known their views in accordance with Article 19(3) of Regulation No 17 (3), Having consulted the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions, (1) 0 13,21.2.1962, p. 204/62. () OJL1,4.1.2003, p. 1. () 0] C 252, 19.10.2002, p. 2. Having regard to the final report of the Hearing Officer in this case (4), Whereas: FACTS [. INTRODUCTION (1)  On 30 June 1994 Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA) and ARGEV Verpackungsverwertungs-Gesellschaft mbH (ARGEV), both with their registered offices in Vienna, notified various agreements to the EFTA Surveillance Authority secking negative clearance or alternatively exemption from the ban on restrictive practices. (2) In a letter dated 21 March 1995 EFTA transferred responsibility for examining these notified agreements to the Commission. (3)  ARA organises a countrywide collection and recycling system for packaging in Austria. The system is designed to meet the requirements laid down in the ordinance of the Federal Minister for the Environment, Youth and Family Affairs on the avoidance and recycling of packag- ing waste and certain waste goods and the establishment of collection and recycling systems (°) (Verpack VO — Packaging Ordinance). To this end, ARA concludes waste disposal contracts with sectoral recycling companies (Branchenrecyclinggesellschaften — BRGs), assigning to them the task of organising the collection, sorting, transport and recycling of packaging. The BRGs, of which ARGEV is one, are each responsible for specific packaging materials or categories of material. They in turn conclude contracts with undertakings or local authorities, which then do the actual collection, sorting, transport and recycling. ARA and the BRGs together form the ARA system. (4) OJ C 64,12.3.2004. (°) BGB1.No 648/1996.