- 12. 6. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 152/27 COMMISSION DECISION of 14 January 1987 on an FIM (Industrial Modernization Fund) loan to a brewery (Only the French text is authentic) ’ | (87/303/EEC) - THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular the first subpara- graph of Article 93 (2) thereof, Having given notice to the parties concerned to submit their comments in accordance with the above provision, and having regard to those comments, Whereas : On 30 April 1985 the French Government informed the Commission that in 1984 it had granted aid to a brewery. The aid had been awarded in the form of an FIM (Indus- trial Modernization Fund) loan of FF 40 million towards an investment of FF 181 million which the recipient had undertaken in 1984 and 1985 with a view mainly to modernizing its brewhouse and installing outdoor tanks. By Decision 85/378/EEC (') the Commission had made clear to the French authorities that the granting of FIM loans constituted aid within the meaning of Article 92 (1) . of the Treaty and made the granting of such loans subject to the obligation to notify to it in advance all significant awards and to inform it also of significant awards made before that Decision was adopted. It had ddded that the latter type of award constituted unlawful aid which might have to be recovered. ' At that time such loans were granted at a rate of 9,25 % over a maximum period of 10 years, with a principal repayment holiday of up to two years. They were intended to support projects of an innovative nature including those for the installation of high-technology machinery and equipment and the development of office technology - and biotechnology. () OJ No L 216, 13. 8. 1985, p. 12. I After scrutinizing the aid on the basis of an analysis of the market in the products concerned and the informa- tion furnished by the French authorities, the Commission decided, on 18 December 1985, to open the procedure provided for in Article 93 (2) of the Treaty in respect of the aid consisting of the FF 40 million FIM loan to the brewery on grounds of the effect the aid would have on trade between Member States and on competition between the recipient and its rivals in the Community. As part of that procedure, the Commission gave the French Government, the other Member States and inte- rested parties, other than Member States, notice to submit their comments. On 22 May 1986 the French Government answered the Commission’s letter of 29 January 1986 which had informed it of the opening of the Article 93 (2) procedure. It stated that the FIM was concerned only with those investments undertaken by the brewery which were truly innovative. The purpose of the investments was to intro- duce innovative techniques into the brewery’s production process. This was especially the case with the following : — the brewery process, in which a fully automated brewhouse incorporating advanced technology was added on to an existing brewhouse : the two could be operated either simultaneously or separately by a single person ; a steam condenser made it possible to recover 54 % of the energy used in boiling, — the high-speed bottling process featuring a new pallet unloader which removed bottles under vacuum and coordination of the various bottle conveyors according to the output of each of the machines on the line and the delivery rate of each of the conveyors, thereby ensuring optimum throughput overall. The innovations involved in the brewery’s investment programme were process innovations. The technological equity loan which was helping to finance them was there- fore entirely consistent with the object of the FIM as noti- - fied to the Commission.