RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SCM/Q2/EEC/12
17June1997
ORGANIZATION(97-2477)
Original: English Committee onSubsidies
andCountervailing Measures
SUBSIDIES
Replies toQuestions from JAPAN1Regarding
theUpdating Notification oftheEUROPEAN COMMUNITY2
Thefollowing communication, dated 11June1997 hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent of
Delegation oftheEuropean Commission.
_______________
Q1. Please answer thefollowing questions concerning "Aid totheCoal Industry" onpage52
ofG/SCM/N/16/EEC.
- Could theECprovide information onthetotal amount ofthesubsidy toeachmember
State oftheEEC in1994 and1995 under Decision 3632/93/ECSC?
- Could ECexplain thereason why thetotal amount ofthesubsidy under
Decision 3632/93/ECSC wasdecreased in1995 compared totheprevious year by
approximately ECU 3billion?
- Accordingtoourinformation,theGermanGovernmentprovidedDM10billionassubsidies
in1996 tothecoalmining industry. Inthisconnection, could theECexplain thedetails
ofthesubsidy andiftheGerman subsidies have already been notified?
Answer
NoECsubsidy hasbeengiven tomember States under theterms ofCommission Decision
3632/93/ECSC.3Thefinancial aidtothecoalindustry isprovided bythemember State concerned.
TheCommission hastobenotified inadvance ofanyplanned aidandchecks thatitconforms tothe
objectivesandprovisionsofCommissionDecision3632/93/ECSC.Ifso,thentheCommissionauthorizes
themember State togrant theaid.
Please findbelow atableindicating thetotalamount ofsubsidy inmillion ECUs (both aidto
current production andaidnotlinked tocurrent production), granted byeachcoal-producing member
1G/SCM/Q2/EEC/11.
2G/SCM/N/16/EEC.
3Commission Decision 3632/93/ECSC of28December 1993, published inOfficial Journal L329of
30December 1993, page 12.G/SCM/Q2/EEC/12
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State, thathasbeenauthorized todateunder theterms ofCommission Decision 3632/93/ECSC for
theyears 1994 and1995.
(Million ECUs)
1994 1995
France 912.8 669.1
Germany 7,806.2 4,890.9
Portugal 5.4 0.9
Spain 876.1 867.0
UK 890.1 1,622.8
EUTotal 10,490.6 8,050.7
Thedifference tothose figures previously supplied isaccounted forbythere-attribution of
anaidamount, authorized tobegranted bytheUK,from 1994 to1995.
Thelargedifferencebetween1994and1995isexplainedbythefactthatthe1994figuresincludes
aspecial one-off amount ofDM5,350 million (ECU 2,779 million) thattheCommission authorized
theGerman Government togrant tocover thedebts thathadaccumulated intheGerman compensation
fundinthecontext oftheGerman Lawof19July1994guaranteeing coalsupplies forpower stations.
Thiscompensation fundandtheattached "Kohlepfennig" levywasdiscontinued fromtheendof1995
andnowallaidtotheGerman coalindustry comes fromthenational, regional orlocalpublic budgets.
For1996, theCommission authorized4theGerman Government togrant atotal of
ECU 5,473.6 million (DM 10,454.6 million). Thisaidissplitdown asfollows:
- ECU 3,926.7 million (DM7,500 million) forpayments totheGerman coalindustry
inconnection withtheFifth Electricity-from-coal Lawof12December 1995;
- ECU 1,329.4 million (DM 2,539.2 million) forthesupply ofcoalandcoketothe
Community steelindustry, together withafinancial measure toassist theundertaking
"Saarbergwerke AG"totalling ECU 62million (DM118.4 million) intheframework
ofadebt-register claim tobecharged tothepublic budgets;
- ECU 50.8 million (DM 97million) tomaintain underground mine workers
("Bergmannsprämie");
- ECU 104.7 million (DM 200million) fortheundertakings "Ruhrkohle AG",
"Saarbergwerke AG", "Gewerkschaft August Victoria", "Sophia Jacoba GmbH" and
"Preussag" tocover exceptional costs(theadditional costsduetotheremoval ofwaste
waterfromminescloseddownaspartoftherestructuringandwhichareneartoworking
pits).
4Commission Decision 96/560/ECSC of30April 1996, published inOfficial Journal L244 of
25September 1996, page 15.G/SCM/Q2/EEC/12
Page3
Q2. Japan didnotfindanynotification concerning theprogrammes which provide subsidies
toprivate companies intheECfortheexploratory activities (including theexploration ofgeological
feature) orthedevelopment ofmines fornon-ferrous metal resources intheECandforeign
countries.
- Inthisconnection, could theECexplain ifithassuchprogrammes?
- That being thecase, could theECexplain thedetails (including thepolicy objectives and
names oftheconducting organizations) oftheprogrammes ineachState oftheECand
iftheyhave already been notified?
- That notbeing thecase, could theECexplain howitconducts suchexploratory activities
anddevelopments?
Answer
Community R&D programmes areincluded inthenotification oftheCommunity Framework
Programmes inthefieldofResearch (page 49ofdocument G/SCM/N/16/EEC), andinmember State's
notifications.
IncaseJapan hasknowledge ofaspecific programme which might meetthenotification criteria
ofArticle 25oftheSCM Agreement, theCommunity invites Japan tosubmit thisinformation inorder
toexamine whether thisprogramme should benotified.
Q3. Could theECexplain thedetails ofthepurpose, theconcrete projects andthebeneficiaries
under the"Development Non-Energy Mining" onpage 394ofdocument G/SCM/N/16/EEC?
Answer
Theobjectives oftheprogramme are:
Tobeofbenefit togeological mineral exploration projects, particularly those atanadvanced
stageofdevelopment, directed atfinding orevaluating mineral resources andatincreasing orselecting
reserves forexisting operations. Preference should begiven tothose projects inzones where abasic
geological infrastructure already exists, andtoprojects directed atfinding priority substances orwhose
consumption depends onhighlevels ofimports andthatarelocalized inlow-rent zones.
Todevelop R&D asregards theimprovement ofsecurity inthemining industry; tooptimize
theexploitation ofreserves andthemeans which improve theprocesses ofexploitation andbenefit
ofminerals; topromote theuseofrawmaterials tocreate newmaterials; toimprove theenvironment
affected bymining andtoimprove equipment andproducts related tomining, etc.
Projects thatobtain improvements insecurity inmines overandabove theestablished norms
forsecurity.
Improvements intheeffects ofthemining activities ontheenvironment; therestoration of
theareas affected byabandoned mines andtherecovery ofslagheaps.
Theexploitation, treatment, benefits andfirsttransformation ofnon-energetic mineral raw
materials, which mustbesituated inless-developed regions, considered asObjective 1,according to
theclassification fortheapplication oftheStructural Funds oftheEU.G/SCM/Q2/EEC/12
Page4
Theconcrete projects benefiting fromhelpcontained inthisprogramme during theyear1995
were asfollows:
Thehelpdestined forexploration ofpolysulfurous metals richinnickel. Smaller quantities
were alsousedfortheexploration ofpossible goldmining zones.
InR&D, small sums wereusedforprojects relating tohydrometallurgy andthebiolixiviation
ofminerals. Similar quantities wereusedtosupport projects transporting minerals andpreconcentrates
andasimilar quantity wasusedforprojects destined forthereduction ofmetal dustandforthe
automation ofequipment usedtothiseffect. About halfthehelpofthisprogramme wasconcentrated
ininvestments intheexploitation ofornamental rocks andmines ofindustrial minerals (finestone,
felspars, siliceous sand, special clays, etc.).