16.4.2004 Official Journal of the European Union L 110/1 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 26 July 2000 declaring a concentration compatible with the common market and the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/M.1806 — AstraZeneca/Novartis) Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 (notified under document number C(2000) 2309) (Only the English text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2004/310/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 thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 of 21 December 1989 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (!), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1310/97 (?), and in particular Article 8(2) thereof, Having regard to the Commission decision of 21 March 2000 to initiate proceedings in this case, Having given the undertakings concerned the opportunity to make known their views on the objections raised by the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the Advisory Committee on Concentrations (%), L) OJ L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 1; corrected version OJ L 257, 21.9.1990, p. 13. () OJ L 180, 9.7.1997, p. 1. (%) 0] C 92, 16.4.2004. Whereas: (), On 18 February 2000, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration by which the undertakings Novartis AG (Novartis) and AstraZeneca plc (AstraZeneca) would spin off and merge their activities in the area of crop protection into a newly incorporated company, Syngenta AG (Syngenta). Novartis would also transfer its seeds business to Syngenta. (2)  After examination of the notification, the Commission concluded that the notified operation falls within the scope of the Merger Regulation and raises serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common market. Therefore, on 21 March 2000, the Commission decided to initiate proceedings pursuant to Article 6(1)(c) of the Merger Regulation. THE PARTIES (3)  Novartis was created by the merger between Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz in December 1996 (*). Novartis is a multinational group of companies operating worldwide (*) Commission Decision 97[469/EC (Case IV/M.737, Ciba-Geigy| Sandoz) (O] L 201, 29.7.1997, p. 1).