20.5.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities L 120/7 COMMISSION DECISION of 8 December 1999 on the Directives promoting the rearing of she-goats (Lower Austria) (notified under document number C(1999) 5210) (Only the German text is authentic) (2000/335/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)(1) thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2467/98 of 3 November 1998 on the common organisation of the market in sheepmeat and goatmeat(!), and in particular Article 22 thereof, and Council Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 of 27 June 1968 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products (?), amended for the last time by Council Regulation (EC) No 1587/96 (%), and in particular Article 23 thereof, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to Article 88(2)(1) (4, Whereas: I. PROCEDURE (1) By letter dated 26 August 1997, Austria notified the Commission of the abovementioned aid. By letter(s) dated 13 July 1998 and 19 October 1998, Austria provided the Commission with further information. (2) By letter dated 21 January 1999, the Commission informed Austria that it had decided to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty in respect of the aid. (3) The Commission decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (°). The Commission invited interested parties to submit their comments on the aid. (4) The Commission received no comments from interested parties. () OJL 312, 20.11.1998, p. 1. () OJ L 148, 28.6.1968, p. 13. () OJ L 206, 16.8.1996, p. 21. () 0] C 113, 24.4.1999, p. 4. ) %) See footnote 4. II. DESCRIPTION (5) The measure in question concerns a general aid scheme providing for a direct grant of ATS 250 per she-goat per year in less-favoured areas of Lower Austria within the meaning of Article 21 of Council Regulation (EC) No 950/97 of 20 May 1997 on improving the efficiency of agricultural structures (°) and ATS 200 per she-goat per year in other parts of the province. (6) The objective of this scheme is to promote goat farming as an alternative to the tradition of dairy cattle farming. Austria also aims to make goat farming on grassland and in hill and mountain areas sustainable, extensive use of these areas being in the common interest. (7) In principle, those eligible for the scheme are natural and legal persons keeping goats on a commercial scale in Lower Austria. To qualify for the premiums they must keep at least 10 she-goats on the holding all year round. The goats must be at least one year old or have kidded at least once. (8) The annual budget set for this measure is ATS 500 000, i.e. EUR 36 350. The measure is of unlimited duration. (9) After an initial examination of the information received, the Commission decided to open the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty in order to examine the scheme in greater detail. The Commission expressed doubts when opening the procedure as to whether the scheme was compatible with the common market since it appeared at first sight to constitute operating aid having no positive structural impact. Moreover, the scheme appeared to allow aid over and above, and similar to, those aids provided for under the (®) OJ L 142, 2.6.1997, p. 1.