28. 1. 2000 Official Journal of the European Communities L 2365 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 28 October 1998 on aid which Italy plans to grant to the steel company Acciaierie di Bolzano SpA (notified under document number C(1998) 3439) (Only the Italian text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2000/66/ECSC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, Having regard to Commission Decision No 2496/96/ECSC establishing Community rules for State aid to the steel industry ('), and in particular Article 6(5) thereof, Having given interested parties notice to submit their comments, and having regard to those comments (?), Whereas: By letter of 23 July 1998 the Commission informed the Italian authorities of its decision to initiate the procedure under Article 6(5) of Commission Decision No 2496/96/ECSC (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Steel Aid Code’) in respect of part of the environmental aid and research and development aid which the autonomous province of Bolzano planned to grant to the steel undertaking Acciaierie di Bolzano SpA (hereinafter referred to as ‘ACB)). From the information available to the Commission, which was based essentially on the letters sent by the Italian authorities, the Commission draws the following conclusions. () O] L 338, 28.12.1996, p. 42. () O] C 269, 28.8.1998, p. 5. Aid for research and development Article 2 of the Steel Aid Code provides that aid granted to defray expenditure by steel undertakings on research and devel- opment projects may be deemed compatible with the common market if it is in compliance with the rules laid down in the Community framework for State aid for research and develop- ment (3). The framework's provisions which are relevant to this Decision lay down that: — aid may be authorised for industrial research provided that it involves the acquisition of new knowledge, the objective being the development of new products, processes or services; — pre-competitive research and development projects are eligible provided they cannot be converted to or used for industrial applications or easily exploited from a commer- cial point of view. It appeared to the Commission that, through the projects noti- fied, ACB essentially intended to extend its range of products in order to penetrate new and more profitable markets. The prod- ucts already existed and were already in production. It also appeared that a significant proportion of the investments would in fact be in the modernisation of the plant intended for the new products. Thus, rather than consisting of the develop- ment of new products in special steels, the project was aimed at the modernisation of ACB's products and the plant required to manufacture them. () O] C 45, 17.2.1996, p. 5.