L 297/22 Official Journal of the European Communities 24.11.2000 COMMISSION DECISION of 28 June 2000 on the part of the Portuguese regional aid map for the period 2000 to 2006 which relates to the regions eligible for exemptions under Article 87(3)(c) of the Treaty (notified under document number C(2000) 1964) (Only the Portuguese text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2000/736/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 88(2) thereof, procedure provided for by Article 88(2) of the Treaty in respect of the regions eligible for exemptions under Article 87(3)(c) of the Treaty (State aid C 78/99). (3)  The Commission's decision not to raise objections to Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic one part of the Portuguese map, considering it compat- Area, and in particular Article 62(1)(a) thereof, ible with the Treaty, and to initiate the formal invest- igation procedure with respect to the rest of the map, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments was pul?l?shed in the Oﬂiaa.l }oumal. Ofr. the European pursuant to those provisions (!, Communtttes O). Int.ergsted parties were invited to subm%t their comments within one month of the date of publi- cation of this decision. Whereas: (4 The Commission received no comments from interested 1. PROCEDURE parties. (1) By letters dated 19 May 1999 and 25 May 1999 (Nos (5 By means of letters dated 21 February 2000 from the 445 and 458 respectively), registered by the Commis- Portuguese Permanent Representation and 2 May 2000 sion on 20 May 1999 and 26 May 1999, the Portuguese from the Portuguese Minister for Economic Affairs (Nos Permanent Representation notified the Commission, in 221 and 2610), registered by the Commission on 22 accordance with Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty, of the February 2000 and 4 May 2000 respectively, a bilateral draft regional aid map for the period 2000 to 2006 (). meeting held on 12 April 2000 and a fax dated 18 May By letter dated 11 June 1999 (D/52497) to the Portu- 2000, the Portuguese authorities gave their comments to guese Permanent Representation, the Commission the Commission. requested further information. By means of letters dated 12 July 1999 and 12 October 1999 from the Portuguese Permanent Representation (Nos 692 and 994 respec- tively), registered by the Commission on 19 July 1999 and 4 November 1999, and a bilateral meeting held on IL. DESCRIPTION OF THE PART OF THE MEASURE IN 7 September 1999, the Portuguese authorities provided RESPECT OF WHICH THE COMMISSION INITIATED this information. THE PROCEDURE () By letter dated 19 January 2000 (SG(2000) D/100638), the Commission informed Portugal that, having exam- (6)  The draft regional aid map proposed by the Portuguese ined the information provided by the Portuguese author- ities on the measure in question, it had decided, in accordance with Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty and Articles 61 and 62 of the EEA Agreement, not to raise any objections regarding the part of the Portuguese regional aid map relating to the regions eligible for exemptions under Article 87(3)(a) of the Treaty (State aid N 305/99), and to initiate the formal investigation () O C 62, 4.3.2000, p. 2. (3 In accordance with the Guidelines on national regional aid (O] C authorities covers the whole of Portugal and is for the period 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2006. Under the exemption provided for in Article 87(3)(c) of the Treaty, the Portuguese authorities proposed the following NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Statistical Units) level III regions and the following aid intensity ceilings (in net grant equivalent — nge): Grande Lisboa: 45,68 % nge in 2000, 36,76 % nge in 2001; 27,84 % in 2002, 18,92 % nge in 2003, 10 % nge 74, 10.3.1998, p. 9) a Member State's re%ional aid map is based on in 2004 to 2006; the regions of a Member State eligible under the derogations provided for by Article 87(3)(a) and (c), the ceilings on the intensity of aid for initial investment or the aid for job creation approved for each region, and the applicable aid combination ceilings. () See footnote 1.