85It follows that the mere fact that Scott was not aware of the existence of the Commission's requests for information from the French authorities beginning on 17 January 1997 does not have the effect of depriving them of legal effect vis-à-vis Scott. Consequently, the letter of 17 January 1997, sent by the Commission before the initiation of the administrative procedure and requesting further information from the French authorities, constitutes, under Article 15 of Regulation No 659/1999, a measure interrupting the 10-year limitation period, which in this case began to run on 31 August 1987, before that period expired, even though the applicant and Scott were not at the time aware of the existence of such correspondence.
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