ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (80)224
Vol.1980/0073

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement (CEE, Euratom) n°354/83 duConseil du1erfévrier 1983
concernant l'ouverture aupublic desarchives historiques delaCommunauté économique
européenne etdelaCommunauté européenne del'énergie atomique (JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifié par lerèglement (CE, Euratom) n°1700/2003 du22septembre 2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003, p.1),cedossier estouvert aupublic. Lecaséchéant, lesdocuments
classifiés présents dans cedossier ontétédéclassifiés conformément àl'article 5dudit
règlement.
Inaccordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No354/83 of1February 1983
concerning theopening tothepublic ofthehistorical archives oftheEuropean Economic
Community andtheEuropean Atomic Energy Community (OJL43,15.2.1983, p.1),as
amended byRegulation (EC, Euratom) No1700/2003 of22September 2003 (OJL243,
27.9.2003, p.1),this fileisopen tothepublic. Where necessary, classified documents inthis
filehave been declassified inconformity with Article 5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr.354/83 desRates vom 1.
Februar 1983 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI. L43vom 15.2.1983,
S.1),geändert durch dieVerordnung (EG, Euratom) Nr.1700/2003 vom 22.September 2003
(ABI. L243vom 27.9.2003, S.1),istdiese Datei derÖffentlichkeit zugänglich. Soweit
erforderlich, wurden dieVerschlusssachen indieser Datei inÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel 5
dergenannten Verordnung freigegeben.

COM(80)224 final
Brussels,2ndMay1980
FOROFFIClALUSEONLYCOMMISSION
OFTHE
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
GeneralSecretariat
REQUEST FORTHEGRANT OFAGLOBAL LOAN ,PURSUANT
TOARTICLE 562a)OFTHEECSC TREATY ,ONBEHALF OFTHE
"INDUSTRIEKREDITBANK AG-DEUTSCHE INDUSTRIEBANK (IKB)"
FOR FINANCING INVESTMENTS ININDUSTRIAL AND
SERVICE ACTIVITIES INNORTH RHINE -WESTPHALIA
(FEDERAL REPUBLIC OFGERMANY )
(Communication from the Commission tothe Council )
COM (80)224 final

COMMUNICATION TOTHECOUNCIL
Subject:Requestforthegrantofagloballoan,pursuantto
Article562a)oftheECSCTreaty,onbehal*fofthe
Industriekreditbank AG-DeutscheIndustriebank (1KB)
forfinancinginvestments inindustrial andservice
activities inNorthRhine-Westphalia (FederalRepublic
ofGermany).
I.BASICINFORMATION
Applicant
Beneficiaries
Project
Location
Amountofinvestment
Globalloanrequested
Interestrebate
JobscreatedIndustriekreditbank AG-Deutsche
Industriebank (IKB)
Variousconcerns
Creatingandextendingsmallandmedium
sizeconcernsinindustryandservice
activity
Businessareaofthe1KBNorthRhine-
Westphalia branch,inparticular Ruhr
AtleastDM50million(+20MEUA)
DM25million(+10MEUA)
3%pointsannuallyforthefirstfiveyears
on10MEUA
Atleast500jobs
II.CONFORMITY WITHARTICLE56OFTHEECSCTREATY
Thegloballoanisintendedtoassistproductive investmentinareasof
NorthRhine-Westphaliaaffectedbyadeclineinemployment inthecoal
andsteelindustry.ThisaffectstheRuhrregioninthefirstplace.
Inthelastfiveyears15,000jobsinthesteelindustryhavebeenlost
inthatregionalone.Tothismustbeaddedoverthesameperiodaloss
of18,000jobsinhardcoalmining.Unemployment intheRuhrsince1975
hasincreasingly overtakenunemployment inallotherdistrictsofNorth
Rhine-Westphalia .
TheRuhrisoneoftheoldestandlargestareasofovercrowding inEurope;
today,likemanyothertraditionally industrial regions,ithasstructural
andlabourmarketproblems.TheseproblemsintheRuhrareconsequential
onthemonostructural characterofthecoalandsteelindustries andtheir
effectoneconomicstructure .
./.
.is'oncoddress .Ruede!oLoi200,B-1040Brussels-Telephone350040-358040-Télégraphie eddress :<•COMEURBrussois.
Telex :«COMEURBRU 21877»

EventhoughcoalandsteelhaveLostimportance intheLastfew
years,theirimportancefortheRuhrregionisstillexceptionally
high.Accordingtothecalculations oftheRhine-Westphalia
InstituteforEconomicResearch(Economicstructural programme
fortfieRuhrregion-1.Continuation),thecoalandsteelsectors
(end1978)had320,000jobsavailablei.e.48%ofallpersons
employedinindustrywhereas17%inallbranchesareinmining,
ironandsteel,welding,drawing,coldrollingorproducingductile
steels.ThetotalvolumeofpersonsemployedintheRuhrregion
areeitherdirectlyemployedincoalandsteelsectorsorinservice
anddeliveryactivities dependent ontheirfuture.
Sincetheendofthefiftiesbelowaveragegrowthofthesteel
industryandthedeclineincoalmininghaveleddirectlyorin­
directlytothelossofhalfamillionjobs.Theformernotable
predominance ofcoalmininghasclearlydeclinedandthesteel
industry,measuredbythenumberofemployed,hasbecomethemain
elementinthecoalandsteelsector.
Changingtrendsinthetraditional coalandsteelassociation have
occurredinthefieldofenergyandsteelprocessing .Inthis
contextthechemicalindustries (principally theproduction ofraw
materials )arebeginningtoinfluenceregionaldevelopment .
Certainlyitisimpossibletocompetewithlossesofjobsincoal
andsteel.
Intheabovementionedstudy,theRhine-WestphaliaInstitutefor
EconomicResearchconfirmsthatithasnotyetbeenpossibleto
introduce newbasicindustriestoreplacecoalandsteeltoany
greatextentandtherebytoconverteconomicstructuredecisively .
Anevidentstructural development hastakenplaceintheraw
materials andcapitalgoodsindustries butdelayshavebeencaused
byparallelworseningintheconsumergoodsindustryandthein­
significant servicessector.Itcanhoweverbeassumedthatthe
Ruhreconomybycomparison withstrongpreviousdependence oncoal
andsteelwillinfuturedevelopfurtherduetotheoutputofthe
steelprocessing industry.Therebytheonesidednatureofindustry
willbebroadlycorrectedbutthemediumtermsensitivity Ofthe
capitalgoodsindustrieswillincreasebecauseoftheveryhigh
dependenceoftheRuhrregiononthegeneraleconomicclimate.
TheLandGovernment ofNorthRhine-Westphalia producedinautumn
1979aspecialprogrammefortheyears1980to1985forecasting a
comprehensive listofmeasurestocombatthecontinuing above
averageunemployment intheRuhrregion,tomakeprogresswith
structural change,togiveincentivestoinvestment andtoimprove
environmental protection .Thegloballoanproposedherecould
makeacontribution ,ifsmall,toachievingthesetargets.
III.THEBANK
TheIndustriekreditbank AG-DeutscheIndustriebank wasfoundedby
firms,associations andChambersofTrade,toprovidelongterm
financingforGermanbusiness.

-3-
The1KBheadquarters areinBerlinandDusseldorf .Therearebranches
inHamburg,Frankfurt,StuttgartandMunich.Theauthorisedcapitalis
DM110M.Shareholders arethe"FoundationforPromotingResearchfor
theIndustrial Economy"(28%ofauthorisedcapital),thethreebanks
established underprivatelaw:DeutscheBank,DresdnerBank,Commerzbank
(25%),leadingGermaninsurancecompanies (some20%)andsome5,000
privateshareholders (mostlycustomercompaniesofthebank).
Thebankissuescreditsforbuildings,machineryandinstallation invest­
ment,forthepurchaseofsitesandbuildings,forconsolidating (funding)
shorttermdebts,forseekingparticipants ,fortakeoverofshareholdings
andforexportfinancing.Thebankhasatraditionofspecialactivityin
makingavailablespecialfacilities atfavourable ratesofinterestfor
publiccreditprogrammes .Creditusersaresmallandmediumsizefirms
fromallbranchesofindustryandalsolargerconcerns.Creditsmayvary
fromlessthanDM100,000towelloverDM10million.Theusualcredit
currencyisbetween4and12years.Creditsareissuedatafixedrate
ofinterestforindefinite repaymentperiods.
Thebankobtainsfinanceitselfthroughlongtermloans,mediumterm
bondsandbearerbonds.Itssecondprincipalfinancingfunctionis
formedfrommediumandlongtermloanswithinlandandexternalbanks,
insurance companies,publicdepartments,industrial concernsandprivate
capitalplacements .
IV.THEPROJECT
TheCommissionwillmakeDM25million(+10MEUA)availabletothe1KB
forthreeyears.Thiswillbesuppliedtothe1KBinoneormore
tranchesaccordingtothemeasuregoverningthegrantofsubloansto
projectseligibleforaid.The1KBwillsubmiteachprojecttothe
Commissionforapproval.
Thedecisiononindividual loanswillbetakeninconformity withthe
aimsandcriteriapublished bytheCommission (O.J.No.C178/2of 1
27July1977andO.J.No.C82/8of29March1979)takingaccountin
particularofthenumberofjobscreatedandreservedinpriorityforformerECSC
workersinrelationtothesizeoftheloancontemplated andtheamount
tobeinvestedinfixedcapital.
Therateofinterest,applicabletoaninstalmentofthegloballoanpaid
tothe1KB,willapplytoeachsubloanfinancedfromthisinstalmentof
thegloballoan.Arebatemaybegrantedadditionally .
Thegloballoanwilltakeaccountofthespecialcreditrequirements of
smallandmediumsizeconcerns,whichfrequently havefewerpossibilities
ofaccesstocapitalmarketsthanotherlargerconcerns.TheCommission
believesthatgloballoansareparticularly adaptedtothecreationof
jobssinceinvestments perjobcreatedareoftenlessforsmallandmedium
sizeconcernsthanforlargerconcerns.
The1KBwillreporteverysixmonthstotheCommission ontheuseto
whichthegloballoanhasbeenput.Itwillreportannuallyonthe
re-employment offormerECSCworkersihindustrial concernsfinanced
bythegloballoan.
./.

-4-
V.IMPACTOFTHELOANONTHERE-EMPLOYMENT OFFORMERECSCWORKERS
Itisforecastthatindividual aidedprojectswillcreateatLeast500
newjobsforformercoalandsteelworkers.Itisimportantthatinvest­
mentsbeassistedoutsidethetraditional coalandsteelassociation in
ordertobroadentheone-sided economicstructureintheRuhrregion.
VI.CONCLUSIONS
TheCommission considersthattherequestcomplieswiththeconditions
ofArticle562a)oftheECSCTreaty.Inconsequence,ithasauthorised
thegranttotheIndustriekreditbank AG-DeutscheIndustriebank (1KB)
ofagloballoanofDM25million(+10MEUA)orofanequivalent amount.
Therateofinterestwillbesubjecttoarebateofthreepercentage
pointsannuallyforthefirstfiveyearsfollowing paymentorpayments
oftheloan,namely:300,000EUA.
TheCommission askstheCounciltogiveitsassenttotheforegoingdecision.