17.3.2004 Official Journal of the European Union L 79/27 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 24 July 2002 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market and with the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/M.2698 — Promatech/Sulzer) (notified under document number C(2002) 2807) (Only the English text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2004/251[EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 57(2)(a) thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 of 21 December 1989 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (!), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1310/ 97 (3, and in particular Articles 8(2) and 22(3) thereof, Having regard to the Commission's decision of 16 April 2002 to initiate proceedings in this case, Having regard to the opinion of the Advisory Committee on Concentrations (?), Having regard to the final report of the Hearing Officer in this case (%), Whereas: I. INTRODUCTION (1) On 7, 11, 18, 19 and 21 December 2001 the Commis- sion received requests for a joint referral, pursuant to () O] L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 1; corrected version in O] L 257, 21.9.1990, p. 13. () OJ L 180, 9.7.1997, p. 1. () O] C67,17.3.2004. (" O] C67,17.3.2004. Article 22 of Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 (the Merger Regulation’), from Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and France, respectively, to investigate a proposed concentration by which the undertaking Promatech SpA (Promatech) would acquire the mechan- ical textile division (Sulzer Textile) of the undertaking Sulzer Ltd. On 11 and 13 February 2002, two further such requests were received from Portugal and Austria, respectively. The Commission found that the abovementioned requests meet the requirements laid down in Article 22(3) of the Merger Regulation. The authorities of the referring Member States had dispatched to the Commis- sion documentation at their disposal consisting mainly of parties' submissions and results of preliminary investi- gations. This information was completed thereafter by the parties to the operation. After a careful examination of the proposed concentra- tion, the Commission concluded that the operation raised serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common market and with the EEA Agreement. The Commission identified serious competitive concerns in the market for rapier weaving machines or, alternatively, in a further segmented market for negative rapier weaving machines, in western Europe, that is to say, in the EEA member States and Switzerland. On 16 April 2002, the Commission accordingly initiated proceedings in this case pursuant to Articles 6(1)(c) and 22(4) of the Merger Regulation and Article 57 of the EEA Agree- ment.