L 357/36 Official Journal of the European Union 2.12.2004 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 7 May 2004 on the state aid granted by Germany to Fairchild Dornier GmbH (Dornier) (notified under document number C(2004) 1621) (Only the German version is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2004/820[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 (') and having regard to their comments, Whereas: 1. PROCEDURE On 19 July 2002 the Commission authorised rescue aid (3) for Fairchild Dornier GmbH (‘Dornier). The aid consisted of a guarantee with a three-month maturity. On 6 August 2002 Germany notified the Commission that it intended to extend the guarantee and commu- nicated to it additional measures in favour of Dornier. On 5 February 2003 a formal investigation procedure was initiated into the extension of the guarantee and the additional measures (}). Germany’s reply to the initiation of the investigation procedure was received on 2 April 2003, and the last information supplied by Germany on 3 December 2003 No comments were submitted by third parties during the investigation procedure. 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE AID 2.1. Dornier From 1996 the German aircraft manufacturer Dornier belonged to the American company Fairchild Aerospace. With some 3 600 employees, Dornier manu- factured aircraft and aircraft parts in Oberpfaffenhofen- Wessling, Bavaria. The plant facilities and business (1) O] C 67, 20.3.2003, p. 2. () 0] C 239, 4.10.2002, p. 2. () See footnote 2. (6) premises in the United States were sold off. In March 2002 Dornier filed for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy proceedings were opened on 1 July 2002. At the same time the employees were divided into an active group and a passive group, the plan being to dismiss the latter, which accounted for about half the workforce. The employees in the passive group ceased working and were included in a social plan, which was partly financed by a state corporation. On 20 December 2002 the bankruptcy trustee decided to liquidate the undertaking and sell the assets separately. There were two separate asset deals: aircraft manufacture and customer services were sold to AvCraft Aerospace GmbH and AvCraft International Ltd, while the manu- facture of Airbus parts and aviation services were trans- ferred to Ruag Holding (Switzerland). According to Germany, this was done in an open, transparent procedure. 2.2. Financial measures Extension of the guarantee On 19 July 2002 the Commission authorised a 50 % deficiency guarantee by the Federal Government and Bavaria for a loan of USD 90 million. The guarantee was authorised as rescue aid for the requested period of three months. The period began when the authori- sation was granted and would have ended on 20 September 2002. On 6 August 2002 Germany applied for an extension of the guarantee until 20 December 2002, i.e. for a further three months, so that Dornier could carry on operating during the search for a financial partner. The terms of the guarantee remained unchanged. The guarantee related to the same loan, which had not been fully utilised. It was formally terminated on 20 December 2002. The extension until that date is the subject of this Decision.