L 100/40 Official Journal of the European Union 6.4.2004 COMMISSION DECISION of 17 September 2003 on the State aid which Italy is planning to implement for Aquafil Technopolymers SpA (notified under document number C(2003) 3240) (Only the Italian text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2004/314[EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com- munity, 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 (') and having regard to their comments, Whereas: I. PROCEDURE By letter dated 28 February 2002, the Italian authorities notified a plan to grant investment aid to Aquafil Tech- nopolymers SpA, a producer of polymers, a chemical product used for the production of synthetic fibres. By letter dated 5 June 2002, the Commission informed Italy that it had decided to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty in respect of the aid. The Commission decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Commu- nities (}). The Commission invited interested parties to submit their comments on the aid. The Commission received comments from interested parties. It forwarded them to Italy, which was given the opportunity to react. II. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE AID Aquafil Technopolymers SpA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aquafil SpA, which is itself part of Gruppo Bonazzi SpA, the holding company of the Bonazzi family. The group, which is a major producer of synthetic fibres, has recently carried out a vertical inte- gration of its production chain, setting up new compa- nies for the production of the different chemical raw materials it needs for its internal use. The new investment is part of this strategy. Aquafil Technopolymers SpA, which was founded recently, groups together the chemical compounding activities and the production of base polymers for compounding. () 0] C 170, 16.7.2002, p. 7. () See footnote 1. (10) The new plant is to produce two main types of compounds: ‘masterbatch’, initially only for the group's self-consumption, and compounds of polyamide 6,66 and 12, mainly for sale outside the group, with 60 % to be placed on the Italian market and the remainder in the rest of Europe. The investment costs relate to the acqui- sition of an existing industrial building (EUR 6.2 million) and the installation therein of the necessary equipment (EUR 1,3 million). Aquafil's main competitors at European level are Nyltech, Radici Novacips, Lati, Basf, Bayer, Dupont General Electronics, Ems, Huels. The notified aid consists of a grant equal to 10 % of the investments costing EUR 7 457 000,30 to be under- taken by Aquafil Technopolymers SpA. The grant is to be awarded by the Autonomous Province of Trento under Provincial Law No 6 of 13 December 1999, here- inafter referred to as ‘Law No 6/1999’, governing all aid granted by the Province to businesses. The Italian authorities base their notification on two provisions of Law No 6/1999. Article 2(3) provides that large firms are eligible for aid under the Law for purposes other than horizontal objectives, subject to prior notification and approval of individual grants by the Commission. This would be the case where the aid is necessary for the firm to remain on the market, in competitive terms, or to safeguard jobs. Article 9(4) of the Law states that in the case of a replacement activity, aid for investment can be increased by 10 % in relation to the aid intensity laid down in the Community rules. Replacement activity is defined therein as the creation or expansion of a company that reabsorbs a significant proportion of previously lost jobs. The Italian authorities consider that the investment planned by Aquafil Technopolymers SpA is necessary to safeguard jobs and qualifies as a replacement activity, because the building acquired with this investment and where the new plant is to be installed belongs to Komarek SpA, a company in liquidation, from which Aquafil Technopolymers SpA will also be taking some employees. Out of the extra 20 new jobs to be created at this new plant, the company has undertaken to fill at least nine with former employees of Komarek SpA.