L 269/30 Official Journal of the European Union 14.10.2005 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 2 August 2004 on the State aid implemented by France for France Télécom (notified under document number C(2004) 3061) (Only the French text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2005/709/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 88(2) thereof, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62(1)(a) thereof, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to the provisions cited above (1) and having regard to those comments, Whereas: I. PROCEDURE By letter dated 31 January 2003, the Commission informed France of its decision to open the formal inves- tigation procedure provided for in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty (hereinafter called the opening decision) in respect of financial measures introduced by the French authorities for France Télécom (hereinafter called FT or the company) and in respect of the business tax scheme applicable to that operator. A description of the facts which led to the procedure being opened is not included in this Decision (3). () O] C 57, 12.3.2003, p. 5. (%) See paragraphs 1 to 8 of the opening decision, which are to be considered an integral part of this Decision. ) The opening decision was notified to France on 31 January 2003. After a number of substantive errors had been corrected, a corrigendum was notified to France on 7 March 2003. France communicated additional information to the Commission by letters dated 4 April 2003, 15 May 2003 and 29 January 2004. The Commission’s decision to open the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (3). The Commission invited interested third parties to submit their comments on the aid measures in question. The Commission received the following comments on the subject from interested third parties: — 21 March 2003: comments from Cable and Wireless plc and Cable and Wireless SA — 11 April 2003: comments from Cegetel — 10 April 2003: comments from AFORS Telecom — 11 April 2003: comments from LDCOM () OJ C 57, 12.3.2003, p. 5, hereinafter called ‘decision to open the procedure’ or ‘opening decision’.