54 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
10.3.71 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoL57/19
COMMISSION DECISION
of17February1971
concerningaidgrantedunder§32ofthelawrelatingtoadjustmentandreorganization
intheGermancollieriesandminingareas
(OnlytheGermantextisauthentic,)
(71/121/EEC)
visonsconcerningtaxationandgrants(Steuerande­
rungsgesetz1969)(BGB11,p.1211)extendeduntile
January1972theconcessionalperiodprovidedforin
§32oftheKohlegesetz;whereastheLawentered
intoforceon22August1969(Article13);THECOMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuro­
peanEconomicCommunity,andinparticularthe
firstsubparagraphofArticle93(2)thereof;
Havingregardtothewrittenandoralobservationof
theMemberStatesandothersconcerned;II
IWhereastheinvestmentgrantprovidedforby§32
oftheKohlegesetzconstitutesanadvantageforun­
dertakingswhichbuildorenlargeindustrialpremises
intheGermanminingareas;whereasthatgrantcon­
stitutesStateaidwithinthemeaningofArticle92(1)
oftheTreaty;
Whereaswithexaminingtheaidprojectin1967,on
thebasisoftheeconomicconsiderations advanced,of
theobjectiveinviewandofthethenrecognizedneed
toacceleratethediversification ofindustryinthe
coalminingareasoftheCommunity,theCommission
wasoftheopinionthattheprojectcouldbecon­
sideredcompatiblewiththecommonmarketwithin
themeaningofArticle92(3)(c);
WhereastheCommissionisoftheopinionthatthe
proposaltoextendtheperiodofapplicationofthe
aidisnotcompatiblewiththecommonmarketinso
farasitrepresentsanencouragement toinvestment
inalltheminingregionsoftheLandofNorthRhine­
Westphalia;whereas,byletterof30July1970,the
Commissioninitiatedtheprocedureprovidedforin
Article93(2)oftheEECTreatyandinvitedthe
GermanGovernment totakenofurtherdecision
after1December1970concerninginvestmentgrants
inNorthRhine-Westphalia ;Whereasunder§32oftheLawof15May1968re­
latingtoadjustmentandreorganization intheGer­
mancollieriesandminingareas(Kohlegesetz)
(BGB11,p.365),personsliabletotaxwhoseprofits
areestablishedonthebasisofregularaccountingpro­
ceduresandwhoafter30April1967havebuiltor
enlargedindustrialpremisesinaminingareamay,
uponapplication,deductfromincometaxorcorpo­
rationtaxupto10%ofthecostofdepreciablefixed
assetsobtainedorproducedafter30April1967and
before1January1970(concessionalperiod)incon­
nectionwiththebuildingorenlargementofthosein­
dustrialpremises;whereasthatconcessionalsoap­
pliestodepreciablefixedassetsobtainedorproduced
withintwoyearsoftheexpiryoftheconcessional
periodifthoseassetsformpartofpremiseswhichthe
personliabletotaxbegantobuildorenlargeduring
theconcessionalperiod(extraconcessionalperiod);
WhereasthisdeductionispermissibleonlyiftheFed­
eralrepresentative forthecoalminingindustryhas
issuedthecertificateinaccordancewith§32(2)of
theKohlegesetzinconsultationwiththedepartment
determinedbytheGovernmentoftheLand;whereas
tothatendtheindustrialpremisessobuiltoren­
largedmustbesuchastoimprovetheeconomicstruc­
tureofthecoalminingregion,beparticularlydeserv­
ingofencouragement fromtheeconomicstandpoint
andservetocreateanadequatenumberofadditional
jobs;
WhereasArticle9oftheLawof19August1969re­
latingtoinvestmentgrantsandamendingcertainpro­III
WhereastheeconomicsituationintheLandofNorth
Rhine-Westphalia hasgreatlyimprovedsincethe
draftlawwascommunicated in1967;whereasthe
averagerateofeconomicexpansionofthatLandisat
leastequaltothatoftheotherregionsoftheFederal
Republic;whereas,furthermore ,productperhead
hasincreasedasrapidlyinNorthRhine-Westphalia

OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 55
Whereastocontinuegrantingaidinthepresentform
wouldtendtoincreasestillfurtherdifferencesin
livingstandardsbetweentheregionsoftheCommu­
nity,contrarytotheobjectiveslaiddowninArticle2
oftheTreaty,andwouldaltertradingconditionsin
awaycontrarytothecommoninterest;whereas§32
oftheKohlegesetzisnotspecificastotheundertak­
ingstobeassistednorastothelocalitiesinwhich
thebuildingorenlargementofindustrialpremises
shouldbeencouragedinordertoachievethestructu­
ralimprovementaimedatintheregionsinquestion;
whereasfurthermorethereisnoprovisionensuring
priorityofemploymentforworkerswholosttheir
previousjobsasaresultofthemineclosures;asintheFederalterritoryasawhole;whereasithas
alwaysbeenabovetheFederalaverage;whereaseven
intheRuhrtheoutputperheadispracticallyequal
totheFederalaverage;whereasgrosshourlyindus­
trialwagesinNorthRhine-Westphalia arethese­
condhighestinFederalGermany,comingclosebe­
hindthoseofHamburg;
Whereasstocksofcoalwhichin1966reached24
millionmetrictonsinFederalGermany,droppedto
5-1millionmetrictonsin1969andwereonlyabout
3-9millionmetrictonsattheendof1970;whereas
therearepracticallynomorestocksofcokingcoal;
whereaspart-timeworkingduetolackofdemand
hasbeendiscontinued ;
Whereastheunemployment figuresinNorthRhine­
Westphalia,whichaveraged2-3%in1967,have
droppedtoonly0-5%sincetheendof1969;whereas
on31October1970therewere155000unfilledva­
canciesinNorthRhine-Westphalia ,ofwhich50000
wereintheRuhr;
Whereasaccordingtoinformationsuppliedbythe
GermanGovernment in1967theforecastsonwhich
§32oftheKohlegesetzwasbasedincludedthecrea­
tionof20000newjobsintheGermanminingareas
asawhole;whereasinfactupto1October1970in
NorthRhine-Westphalia aloneapplicationsrelating
toinvestmentsamountingto10-7thousandmillion
DMwereapproved;whereastheseinvestments
shouldcreate86000newjobs;V
Whereastheprovisionofinvestmentgrantsunder
§32oftheKohlegesetzmustceaseinNorthRhine­
Westphaliasolongasselectiveapplicationofthat
systemisnotensured;whereasnottoapplythesys­
temofaidrequiresnoamendmentoftheLaw;where­
asfortheaidtobeoperatedselectivelytheFederalre­
presentativeforthecoalminingindustryneedonly,in
respectofprojectsinNorthRhine-Westphalia ,issue
certificates,inaccordancewith§32(2)oftheLaw,
onthebasisofcriteriacomplyingwiththeprinciples
ofArticle92oftheEECTreaty;
Whereasundertakingswhichhaveobtainedacertifi­
catefromthatrepresentative cantakeadvantageof
theextraconcessionalperiodprovidedforinthese­
condsentenceof§32(1)andwhereas,therefore,a
transitionalperiodisnotnecessary,
IV
HASADOPTEDTHISDECISION :
Article1
TheFederalRepublicofGermanyshallforthwith
takeallnecessarymeasurestoputanendinNorth
Rhine-Westphalia tothenon-selectiveprovisionof
investmentgrantsunder§32(1)oftheLawrelating
toadjustmentandreorganization intheGermancol­
lieriesandminingagreas(Kohlegesetz),asamended
byArticle9oftheLawof18August1969(Steuer­
dnderungsgesetz ).Whereasthesystemofaidprovidedforin§32ofthe
KohlegesetzdoesnotfulfiltheconditionsofArticle
92(2)oftheEECTreatysincethesystemconstitutes
regionallyundifferentiated supportforinvestmentin
theminingareasofNorthRhine-Westphalia ;
Whereastheconditionsunderwhichthesystemofaid
couldbeconsideredascompatiblewiththecommon
marketinaccordancewithArticle92(3)(a)or(b)
arenotfulfilled;whereasthereisneitheranabnor­
mallylowstandardoflivingnoristhereserious
underemployment intheNorthRhine-Westphalia
miningareas;whereas,moreover,thisaiddoesnot
servetoputanendtoaseriousdisturbanceinthe
economyoftheFederalRepublicofGermany;
Whereas,becauseofthechangedsituationinNorth
Rhine-Westphalia since1967,theconditionsforthe
applicationofArticle92(3)(c)arenolongerful­
filled;whereastherecipientregionsareveryhighly
industrialized ;whereasincomeperheadandthe
levelofemploymentarehigh;Article2
ThisDecisionisaddressedtotheFederalRepublicof
Germany.
DoneatBrussels,17February1971.
FortheCommission
ThePresident
FrancoM.MALFATTI