NoL29/14 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 4.2.76
II
(Actswhosepublicationisnotob/i»cito>y)
COMMISSION
COMMISSION DECISION
of18December 1975
amendingCommission Decision71/293/ECSCof22July1971ontheauthoriza­
tionofspecialDeutscheBundesbahn tariffsinfavourofcoalandsteel
producersintheSaar
(OniytheGermantextisauthentic)
(76/166/ECSC)
tariffsapprovedinArticle1totherelevantfrontier
points,shallbeappliedduringthesameperiodsat
corresponding rates;THECOMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuropean
CoalandSteelCommunity (ECSC),andinparticular
Articles2to5and70thereof,
IWhereas,indiscussionswiththeCommission on1
Octoberand7November1975andbyverbalnoteof
2December1975fromitsPermanentRepresentative ,
theGermanGovernmentrequestedthatthefive-stage
reductionofspecialratesprovidedforintheabove­
mentionedCommissionDecisionshouldnetbegin
until1January1978,inviewoftheeffectsofthe
economiccrisis,whichareparticularlygraveinthe
Saar;whereasitalsoproposesusingtheintermediate
periodoftwoyearsforconsideringhowtoachievefor
theSaarpermanentandmoreeffectiveaidinparti­
culartocontributetoachievement oftheaimsof
Article2oftheECSCTreaty.WhereastheCommission ,initsDecision71/293/
ECSCof22July1971('),approvedtheapplicationby
theDeutscheBundesbahnofspecialtariffNos188,
196,197,263,270,273andtariffNo9133infavour
ofcoalandsteelproducersintheSaarforaperiodof
nineyearsupto31December1979,oncondition :
—thatby31December1975thepercentagereduc­
tiononexistingtariffsnormallyapplicableisnot
greaterthanthatrepresentedbythespecialtariffs
authorizedbyDecision69/238/ECSCof9July
1969(2),
—thatsubsequentlythepercentagereductionsshall
bedecreasedbyatleast20%on1Januaryeach
yearfrom1976to1979andcompletelyabolished
byiJanuary1980,
—thattheDeutscheBundesbahnspecialtariffsNos
207,208,209,280,281andthespecialratesof
tariffNo1231(now5092)extendingthespecialWhereasinsupportofitsrequesttheGermanGovern­
mentpointsoutthat:
—despitetheveryhighinvestmentsbetween1968
and1975intherestructuring oftheSaar's
industry,particularlywithaviewtothecreationof
newindustriesoutsidethecoalandsteelsector,
thecoalandsteelindustrycontinuestoplayan
importantroleintheSaar'seconomy.Itisthere­
forenecessarytomaintainthecompetitivity ofthis
industry.(')OJNoL179,9.8.1971,p.33.
(2)OJNoL192,5.8.1969,p.1.

4.2.76 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoL29/15
—inthelongrunitwillbepossibletoeliminatethe
competitivedisadvantages oftheSaarcoaland
steelindustryonlybybuildingawaterwayconnec­
tion,suchasexistsinallotherregionswitha
similareconomicstructu'e .TheGovernment there­
foredecidedon30May1973tocanalizetheSaar
uptoitsconfluencewiththeMoselle.Therequi­
sitefinancialdecisionshavebeentakenandthe
necessaryworkshavebegun.Thecentralauthori­
tieshaveprovidedfundsfor1976-77,butthe
effectsofthecurrenteconomicsituationonthe
Government'sfinancesmakeitnecessaryto
extendthetimetableforthework;
—itwouldhoweverbepointlesstobuildthecanalif
inthemeantimethecompetitivity oftheSaar's
coalandsteelindustrywerefurtherreducedbythe
abolitionoftheDeutscheBundesbahn'sspecial
tariffs,
—becauseoftheapplicationofthespecialtariffsthe
Saar'scoalandsteelindustrywasabletomaintain
anadequateshareoftotalGermanproduction
until1974.Itwasthereforeabletoinvestatthe
samerateasotherGermanminingregionsand
therebyexpandandmodernizeitsproductionand
processingfacilitiesandthusmaintainjobs,
—theSaar'scoalandsteelindustryhasbeenunable
tomakethesubsequentinvestmentsfor1976/77
inviewoftheeconomicdifficultiescausedbya
drasticfallinproductionandsales.Therestruc­
turingmeasureslaunchedonthebasisofthe
Commission Decisionof1971havethereforebeen
suspendedfortheforeseeablefuture,
—ithasbecomedifficulttosolvethecontinuing
structuralproblemsbecauseofthecurrent
economicsituation,especiallyasthishasaffected,
theSaar'scoalandsteelindustrytoanextent
greaterthantheaverageintheFederalRepublic,
becauseoftheSaar'sgeographicalposition;tionandadjustment ;whereasthisaidshouldnot
howeverberegardedaspermanentcompensation to
theSaar'scoalandsteelindustry,tobecontinuedas
longasthedisadvantages arisingfromtheshortcom­
ingsofthewaterwayinfrastructure remained
unchanged ;
WhereastheCommissionaccordinglyapprovedthe
applicationoftheDBspecialtariffsinfavourofcoal
andsteelproducersintheSaarforaperiodofnine
years,withagradualreductionofthespecialrates
duringthelastfouryears;whereasittookthisdeci­
siononthebasisoftheeconomicsituationin1971
andthethenforeseeabledevelopment oftheindus­
triesinquestion;
WhereastheSaar'scoalandsteelindustryhas,upto
1975,madeconsiderableinvestmentwithaviewto
themodernization ofitsproductionandprocessing
facilities;
Whereas,becauseofthefallinproductionandsales
in1975ithasnotyetbeenpossibletoproceedwith
theinvestmentsplannedfor1976;whereasalarge
proportionofthesecannotbemadeasplanned;
Whereasthecurrentrestructuring andadjustment
programmes arebeingdelayedforthesereasons;
whereastheresultsforeseeableandanticipatedatthe
timeofthe1971Commission Decisionwillnotbe
achievedin1976;
Whereasifinadditiontothisdelayingofinvestment
theaidgrantedbytheDeutscheBundesbahninthe
formoffreightconcessions isscaleddownafter1
January1976,thepositionoftheSaar'scoalandsteel
industrywillbemadestillmoredifficult,anditwill
notbeabletomakeanadequateadjustmentwithin
theperiodprescribed ;whereasinthesecircumstances
itappearsjustifiedtopostponefortwoyearsthestart
ofthegradualscalingdownoffreightconcessions ;
whereasithashowevernotbeenestablishedthatthe
development oftheSaars'scoalandsteelindustry
withintheframeworkofthegeneraldevelopment of
theCommunitycoalandsteelmarketrequiresa
corresponding extensionoftheoverallperiodduring
whichthetariffaidistobegranted,
HASADOPTED THISDECISION :WhereastheCommission statedinits1971Decision
thattheunfavourable competitivepositionofthe
Saar'scoalandsteelproducerswasnotaresultof
naturalconditionsoflocationbutcouldlargelybe
attributedtoactionbythepublicauthorities,mainly
inthefieldoftransportinfrastructure ;whereasthis
situationrequiredarestructuringoftheindustryand
anadjustmentofproductionandsales;whereasthis
requiredrelativelylongperiodsoftimeandthetaking
ofmeasureswhoseeffectswouldbefeltonlyafter
severalyears;
WhereastheCommission tooktheviewthataidin
theformofspecialtariffscouldeasethisreorganiza­Article1
TheCommissionDecisionof22July1971autho­
rizingtheapplicationoftheDeutscheBundesbahn
specialtariffNos188,196,197,263,270,273and

NoL29/16 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 4.2.76
Article2
ThisDecisionisaddressedtotheFederalRepublicof
Germany.
DoneatBrussels,18December1975.tariffNo9133infavourofcoalandsteelproducersin
theSaarisamendedasfollows:
1.InArticle1(1)'31December1975'isreplacedby
'31December1977'.
2.Article1(2)shallreadasfollows:
'Duringafurtherperiodoftwoyears,oncondition
thatthesaidreductionsshallbedecreasedbyat
leastone-thirdon1January1978,byatleasttwo­
thirdson1January1979andcompletelyabolished
by1January1980.'FortheCommission
CarloSCARASCIA MUGNOZZA
Vice-President