Brussels, 25/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - In context of the case of costs incurred by Belgium, the Commission has decided to not raise objections to the two aspects of a measure that aimes to compensate for the impact of liberalisation in the electricity market on the Belgian companies Electrabel and SPE. The Commission has decided to open a thorough investigation into the third aspect of this measure. The first aspect intends to provide compensation to Electrabel and SPE for the work they carried out in 1990 in dismantling the Mol-Dessel nuclear experiment site installation, which cost EUR 377 million and which could continue until 2003. Compensation provided by the Belgian State corresponds exactly to the amounts spent. The Commission believes that the commitment in this task undertaken by Belgian companies was compatible with the criteria in "Methodology and analysis of State Aids linked to costs incurred". The second aspect involves a system that requested Belgian electricity distributors to finance certain green energy and energy saving initiatives by the regions and the Electricity and Gas Control Committee. The Commission has decided that this mechanism that aims to promote renewable energy and energy saving did not encroach on the resources of the State and did not constitute a State Aid. The Commission has opened an examination procedure on the third aspect of the measure in which the Belgian State would be responsible for part of the pension contributions for Electrabel and SPE employees. Certain employees or pensioners from these companies are still covered by this complementary tax-based pension scheme, which existed before the implementation of the law in the electricity sector on 9 July 1975 that replaced this kind of system with capitalisation based pension plans. According to the Belgian authorities, electricity consumer prices in Belgian in recent years have been too low to allow Electrabel and SPE to carry out the necessary changes for pension payments within the liberalised market, for which it decided to take responsibility for part of the pension payments. The Commission also seeks to analyse to what extent the Belgian companies were able to carry out the necessary provisions and to what degree the Belgian authorities intend to help them, so that no over-compensation for the costs incurred occurs.