58 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
NoL33/16 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 7.2.72
COMMISSION DECISION
of21January1972
ontheauthorizationofspecialDeutscheBundesbahntariffsforthecarriageofcom­
bustiblesolidsfromAhlen(Westphalia)toAlsdorf(KreisAachen)
(OnlytheGermantextisauthentic)
(72/93/ECSC)
THECOMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuro­
peanCoalandSteelCommunity (ECSC),andin
particularArticles2to5and70thereof;
Havingregardtotheverbalnoteof19August1970
fromthePermanentRepresentative oftheFederal
RepublicofGermanytotheEuropeanCommunities
bywhichtheGermanGovernment ,inaccordance
withtheprovisionofthefourthparagraphofArticle
70oftheECSCTreaty,requestedtheCommissionof
theEuropeanCommunitiestoauthorizethespecial
tariffwhichtheDeutscheBundesbahnproposetoap­
plytothecarriageofcoalfromAhlen(Westphalia)
toAlsdorf(KreisAachen);
1.WhereastheAnnacokingplantinAlsdorf,which
belongstotheEschweilerBergwerks-Verein ,asub­
sidiaryoftheARBEDgroup,atpresentreceivessup­
pliesofcokingcoalfrom:
-thecoalfieldadjoiningtheKempenland (Campine)
districtofBelgium(1971-anestimated270000
metrictons);
-thecollierieswhichtheEschweilerBergwerks-
VereinownsintheAachencoalfield(1971)-an
estimated2-1millionmetrictons);
-theErinmineownedbytheEschweilerBergwerks-
VereinatCastrop-Rauxel (Westphalia)(1971-an
estimated164000metrictons);
-theWestfalenmineownedbytheEschweiler
Bergwerks-Verein atAhlen(1971-anestimated
270000metrictons);
WhereastheAnnacokingplantandthecollieries
ownedbytheEschweilerBergwerks-Verein arenot
independentbutaredivisionsofthatundertaking ;
Whereasthesevarioussourcesofsupplyenablethe
Annacokingplanttoworktofullcapacity;whereas
anincreaseinproductionobtainedotherwisethanbynormalmeasuresofrationalization andmoderniza­
tion,thatistosaybymeasuresofsubstantialnew
investment,isnotforeseenfortheimmediatefuture;
WhereascoalfromtheAachencoalfieldandfrom
Kempenland ispreparedforcokinginthemixer
ownedbytheEschweilerBergwerks-Verein atAls­
dorf;whereasEschweilerBergwerks-Verein atpre­
sentdeliversabout270000metrictonsofcoalfrom
theAachencoalfieldtothemixerofKempense
Steenkolenmijnen NVatZolder,forthesamepur­
pose;whereas,forthepastthreeyears,thistwo-way
exchangeofequalquantitieshasbeensteadilyin­
creasinginvolume;whereasfortheyear1972the
twosideshaveagreedtoexchange300000metric
tons;whereasthecostofcarriageofcoalfromBel­
giumandfromtheAachencoalfieldontheAlsdorf/
ZolderrouteisBfrs76-60/DM5-60underinterna­
tionaltariffNo1232,whichiscompetitivewithother
modesoftransport;
WhereascarriageofcokingcoalfromAhlen(West­
phalia)toAlsdorfisatpresenteffectedexclusively
byrail;whereastheDeutscheBundesbahnapplies,
inaccordancewithgeneraltariffNos180and206,a
rateofDM14-10/metricton;whereasitproposesto
introducea,specialtariffbringingthisratedownto
DM11-60/metricton;whereastheFederalGovern­
menthasrequestedauthorizationforthistariff;
2.Whereastheapplication,theadditionalinforma­
tionprovidedatthemeetingsof21September1970
and2June1971betweenrepresentatives oftheCom­
missionoftheEuropeanCommunitiesandofthe
GermanGovernment ,andtheinformationcontained
intheverbalnoteof16April1971,indicatethatthe
GermanGovernmentputsforwardtheparticular
economicinterestsoftheDeutscheBundesbahn in
supportofthespecialtariff;whereasonthismatter
theGermanGovernment declaresasfollows:
IftheAnnacokingplantusedonlycoalfromthe
AachencoalfieldandfromKempenland-whichit

OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 59
couldwelldo-itsproductioncostswould,because
oflowercostsofcarriage,belessthantheproduction
costsresultingfromthepresentcokingcoalintake
involving,useofcoalfromtheWestfalenmineif
carriedatnormaltariffrates.Theloweringofthe
ratetoDM11-60wouldnothoweverenabletotal
paritytobeachievedbetweenproductioncostsfor
thedifferentintakecombinations .Theproductionof
cokefromdeareramixincludingcoalfromtheWest­
falenminewouldremainsomewhatdearer,although
thedifferenceincostwouldbesolightasnolonger
toexcludethecontinueduseofcoalfromthatmine
fortheAnnaplantonalong-termbasis.Moreover,
thespecialtariffwouldenablethecostofcarriageof
coalfromthetwoproductioncentresoftheEsch­
weilerBergwerks-Verein inWestphalia(Erinand
Westfalen)tobeapproximated,andwouldgivethe
cokingplantgreaterflexibilityofsupply.Ifthespe­
cialtariffisnotauthorized,theEschweilerBerg­
werks-VereinintendstostopsupplyingtheAnna
cokingplantwithAhlencoalwhichwouldbere­
placedbycoalfromtheAachencoalfieldwiththe
resultthatthelatterwouldceasedeliveriesofcoal
toZolders.Theobligationsundertheexchangecon­
tractconcludedwithKempenseSteenkolenmijnen
NVwouldbefulfilledwiththeAhlencoalfromthe
Westfalenminereleasedbythischange.
CarriageofthelatterquantitiesofcoaltoZolder
wouldveryprobablybeeffectedbyinlandwaterway
and,accordingtotheoffersmadetotheEschweiler
Bergwerks-Verein ,thecostofcarriagewouldthen
liebetweenDM9andDM10/metricton;
Inthesecircumstances theDeutscheBundesbahn
aims,byapplyingthespecialtariffs,tocontinueto
effectthecarriageofcoalfromAhlentoAlsdorf,an
operationwhich,inspiteofthe18%reductionon
thenormaltariff,wouldremainprofitableforthe
DeutscheBundesbahn .Whatisinvolvedisprogram­
medcarriageunderfavourableoperatingconditions
(e.g.two-waytraffic),bycompletetrainloadswith
largecapacity,self-unloading trucks.ReceiptsofDM
11-60/metrictonwouldmorethancovercosts.Non-
authorizationofthetariffwould,ontheotherhand,
causetheDeutscheBundesbahn toloseincomein
excessofDM4millionperyear;
3.WhereasthefourthparagraphofArticle70ofthe
ECSCTreatyprovidesthattheprioragreementof
theCommissionisrequiredfortheapplicationof
specialinternalratesandconditionsintheinterestof
oneormorecoal-orsteel-producing undertakings ;
whereasthatprovisionrelatesnotonlytospecial
tariffsadoptedintheinterestofsuchundertakings
buttoanyspecialtariffswhich,whateverthereason
fortheirintroduction ,happentobeofadvantageto
oneormoreofthem;whereastheagreementofthe
Commissionmustbegivenifthespecialtariffscom­
plywiththeprinciplesoftheTreaty;whereassuch
compliancemayasageneralrulebepresumedwherethespecialtariffsarejustifiedspecificallybythe
conditionsofthetransportmarket;whereasthein­
terestofacarrierinapplyingaspecialtariffinorder
toretaincertaintrafficmust,however,bedisre­
garded,iftheproperfunctioningofthecommon
marketincoalandsteel,aslaiddownintheECSC
Treaty,sorequires.
Whereasthespecialtarifffallsunderthefourthpara­
graphofArticle70oftheECSCTreaty,because
owingtoitslimitedfieldofapplicationitisofmate^
rialbenefitonlytotheEschweilerBergwerks-Verein ,
thatistosay,toaparticularundertakingofthecoal,
ironandsteelindustry;whereastheadvantagede­
rivedbytheEschweilerBergwerks-Verein fromthe
operationdoesnotliesomuchintheactualreduction
inthecostofcarriageofcoalfromWestphalia;
whereasthemainpositiveeffectofthetariffforthe
EschweilerBergwerks-Verein isthatitenablesthat
undertakingtoobtainoptimuminternalconditions
ofpurchaseandsaleinlinewiththelong-termpolicy
oftheundertaking .
Whereastheinterestwhichthespecialtariffholds
fortheDeutscheBundesbahncannotbecontested;
whereas,giventhesecircumstances ,theEschweiler
Bergwerks-Verein wouldinfacthavetomakeits
decisiontocontinuesupplyingcoalfromtheWest­
falenminedependsonsomeDM2-50differencebe­
tweenthenormaltariffandthespecialtariffre­
quested;whereasitseemsequallyincontestablethat
insuchcircumstances theEschweilerBergwerks-
Vereinwouldbeinapositiontoundertakethesup­
plyingoftheAnnacokingplant,atpresentworking
atfullcapacity,simplybyincreasingtheproportion
ofcoalfromtheAachencoalfield;whereas,onthe
otherhand,suchareadjustmentwouldnotneces­
sarilyinvolveanincreaseinBelgiansupplies;
Whereasiftheseintentionswerecarriedout,the
DeutscheBundesbahnwouldlosethenotinconsider­
ablevolumeoftrafficfromAhlentoAlsdorf,with
consequential reductioninreceipts;whereas,more­
Over,itwouldnolongertakepartinthecarriageof
coalfromAachentoZolder,whichwouldbeter­
minated;whereas,incompensation forthelossof
trafficfromAhlentoAlsdorftheDeutscheBundes­
bahnmight,atbest,acquireanequivalenttrafficof
coalfromAhlentoZolder;whereastheincomefrom
thatoperationwouldcorrespondtoapartofthepro­
ceedsfromtheapplicationofaninternationalcom­
petitivetariffandwouldbelessthanthatresulting
fromtheapplicationoftheproposedspecialtariff;
Whereasif,throughapplicationofthespecialtariff,
theDeutscheBundesbahncouldretainthepresent
traffic,theoperationwouldremainprofitableforit
becauseoffavourablecosts;whereas,ifthevarious
coursesopentotheDeutscheBundesbahninthe
matterarecompared,theexistenceoftheriskitis
tryingtocounterbymeansofthespecialtariffand

60 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
Whereas,inthesecircumstances ,theproposedtariff
iscompatiblewiththeprinciplesoftheECSCTreaty
andshouldthereforebeauthorized;
WhereastheCommissionreservestherighttoreview
itsdecisiononthismatteratanytime,ifthegrounds
onwhichthedecisionisbasedshouldchangeorno
longerobtain;whereasthemeasureanditsauthori­
zationshouldinanycasebereviewedwithinthree
years'time;whereasconsequently,thisauthorization
shouldbeoflimitedduration,
HASADOPTEDTHISDECISION :
Article1oftheadvantagethismeasureholdsfortheDeutsche
Bundesbahnareindisputable;
Whereasthereisnoneedtofearthattheintroduc­
tionofthespecialtariffwouldimpairtheproper
functioningofthecommonmarketincoalandsteel;
Whereastheadvantageofapproximately DM680000
peryearwhichthespecialtariffwouldbringtothe
EschweilerBergwerks-Verein doesnotdisturbcom­
petitionbetweenCommunitycokingcoalproducers;
whereasthecollieriesofWestphaliaandoftheAa­
chencoalfieldareownedbytheEschweilerBerg­
werks-Verein ;whereasthosecollieriesarenotinde­
pendentbutarefullyintegrateddivisionsofthat
undertaking ;whereasthemarketexpectationsof
othercoalproducers,inparticularKempenseSteen­
kolenmijnenNV,arenotaffected;whereastheKem­
penlandcollieriesareindeedinterestedinexpanding
theirexchangeswithKempenseSteenkolenmijnen ;
whereasuptothepresenttheEschweilerBergwerks-
Vereinhassatisfiedthatinterestbyincreasingits
purchasesfromyeartoyear,notwithstanding thesup­
pliesfromAhlentotheAnnacokingplant;whereas
theintroductionofthespecialtariffwillnotaffect
theseexchanges,thevolumeofwhichisonthein­
crease;
Whereas,furthermore ,theeffectivesupportthatthe
measureinquestionbringstotheEschweilerBerg­
werks-Vereininitscapacityofcokeproducerdoes
notdistortcompetitionbetweenothercokeprodu­
cers;whereas,indeed,evenwithoutaspecialtariff
thatcompany,byobtainingcokingcoalfromanother
combinationofsources,wouldbeinapositionto
marketthesameamountofcokeandatthesame
cost;Theapplicationofaspecialtariffforthecarriageof
coalfromAhlen(Westphalia)toAlsdorf(KreisAa­
chen)bytheDeutscheBundesbahnisauthorized
until31December1974.
Article2
IftheCommission findsthatthisDecisionisno
longerjustified,itshallbeamendedorrepealed.
Article3
ThisDecisionisaddressedtotheFederalRepublic .
ofGermany.
DoneatBrussels,21January1972.
FortheCommission
ThePresident
FrancoM.MALFATTI