24. 3. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 79/29 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 17 November 1987 concerning aid which the Land of Baden-Wiirttemberg of the Federal Republic of Germany has provided to BUG-Alutechnik GmbH, an undertaking producing semi-finished and finished aluminium products - (Only the German text is authentic) (88/174/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 93 (2) thereof, : Having given notice in accordance with the above Article to interested parties to submit their comments and having regard to those comments, Whereas : As the request of the Commission, the Federal German Government informed the Commission by verbal note from its Permanent Representation dated 24 June 1985 that the Land of Baden-Wiirttemberg had granted by decision of 26 April 1985 DM 2 million to the undertaking in question as a cancellation of the State guarantee of DM 7 million which had been awarded to the undertaking by the Land on 11 July 1984 in accordance with the ‘Directives for granting of guarantees to industry by the Land of Baden-Wiirttemberg’.' The grant of DM 2 million was provided on condition that the declaration of guarantee by the Land was returned and the grant was used to increase the capital of the undertaking which was under receivership. The aim of the grant was to make the recipient undertaking a worthwhile acquisition from the point of view of. the purchasing company, which agreed to take over the undertaking on condition that its share capital was raised by DM 2 million and that DM § million would be invested in the firm’s assets by 1987. / The Commission decided on 29 January 1986 to initiate the procedure provided for by Article 93 (2) of the EEC Treaty with respect to the non-notified aid of DM 2 million that the Land of Baden-Wiirttemberg has provided to a producer of semi-finished aluminium products. After the initial scrutiny, the Commission considered that the grant of DM 2 million constituted an aid measure within the meaning of Article 92 (1) as it allowed the take-over of the undertaking without the latter carrying all the related costs and as it was liable to distort competition . and to affect trade within the Community to an extent contrary to the common interest. With regard to the obligation of notification of the aid measure, the Commission concluded that the grant of DM 2 million should have been notified in advance as provided for by Article 93 (3) of the EEC Treaty. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany had argued that the grant.of DM 2 million was not notifiable because it fell below the thresholds laid down in the Commission’s letter SG(79) D/10479 of 14 September 1979. However, those thresholds only apply for general aid schemes approved by the Commission. This was not the case for the grant of DM 2 million. Indeed, the Commission had never approved any general aid scheme for the Land of Baden-Wiirttemberg which provided for grants in favour of undertakings in difficulty. Furthermore, as the company never went bankrupt, the payment of the grant of DM 2 million could not be considered, from the legal point of view, as the honouring of the guarantee of DM 7 million. In addition, given that the new company was formed on the viable parts of the undertaking under receivership and as the receiver agreed to invest DM § million in the firm’s assets by 1987, the Commission had strong doubts concerning the statemient that in the absence of the grant the company would have gone bankrupt. '