EFTA Surveillance Authority Decision No 438/12/COL of 28 November 2012 amending for the eighty-sixth time the procedural and substantive rules in the field of state aid

THE EFTA SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY,

HAVING REGARD to the Agreement on the European Economic Area,⁽¹⁾ in particular to Articles 61 to 63 and Protocol 26 thereof,

HAVING REGARD to the Agreement between the EFTA States on the Establishment of a Surveillance Authority and a Court of Justice,⁽²⁾ in particular its Articles 5(2)(b) and 24,

Whereas:

1. The Chapter in the EFTA Surveillance Authority’s State Aid Guidelines on state aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty⁽³⁾ is due to expire on 30 November 2012,⁽⁴⁾

2. That Chapter corresponds to the Community Guidelines on State aid for Rescuing and Restructuring Firms in Difficulty,⁽⁵⁾ which expired on 9 October 2012,⁽⁶⁾

3. On 28 September 2012 the European Commission adopted a Communication concerning the Prolongation of the application of the Community Guidelines on State Aid for Rescuing and Restructuring Firms in Difficulty of 1 October 2004, until they are replaced by new rules.⁽⁷⁾

4. The current Chapter on state aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty which will expire on 30 November 2012 must therefore be prolonged in order to ensure the uniform application of state aid rules throughout the European Economic Area,

5. The European Commission and the EFTA States have been consulted,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: