No C 36/2 Official Journal of the European Communities 13.2.80 
Communication from the Commission concerning the amended text, as at present valid, 
of Decision 73/287/ECSC concerning coking coal and coke for the iron and steel 
industry in the Community 
1. Decision 73/287/ECSC concerning coking coal 
and coke for the iron and steel industry in the 
Community (') has been amended by Decisions No 
2963/76/ECSC (2), No 751/77/ECSC (3), No 1613/ 
77/ECSC (4) and No 3058/79/ECSC (5). 
In order to make it easier for those concerned to 
refer to these provisions, the amended version of 
Decision 73/287/ECSC valid from 1 January 1980 is 
set out below. 
This coordination is without legal status. Hence, the 
preamble has been omitted. 
2. It is recalled that the above decision is 
implemented by Decision No 3544/73/ECSC (6), 
which was the subject of a communication dated 30 
December 1974 concerning implementation of the 
provisions relating to long-term contracts (7) and was 
amended, on an interim basis, by Decisions No 2216/ 
77/ECSC (8) and No 2287/78/ECSC (9). and collection. To this end the following aids may be 
granted: 
(a) a production aid, for which the governments shall 
each year determine a rate per coalfield, while 
taking particular account of the average costs of 
production in that coalfield, the price of coking 
coal referred to in Article 5, delivered in its 
principal sales area and the long-term supply 
conditions; 
(b) a sales aid applying to deliveries to areas remote 
from the coalfield or effected by way of intra-
Community trade. The rate of any such aid may 
not exceed 4 • 40 EUA per tonne of coking coal in 
the case of deliveries to installations which can be 
supplied direct via maritime transport or where in 
the case of intra-Community trade, supply via 
maritime transport is necessary and 2-60 EUA 
per tonne of coal in all other cases. No scale 
adopted by a government shall introduce any 
element of discrimination into the aids relating to 
the deliveries made by the coal undertakings. 
Article 2 
SECTION I 
Aids by Member States 
Article 1 
The Member States are authorized to grant to coal 
undertakings under their jurisdiction, which supply 
coking coal and blast-furnace coke to the Community 
iron and steel industry, aids to facilitate production, 
marketing in regions far away from the production 
areas and intra-Community trade, and the conclusion 
and implementation of long-term contracts for supply 
(') OJNoL259, 15.9. 1973, p. 36. 
O OJ No L 338, 7. 12. 1976, p. 19. 
(3) OJNoL91, 13. 4. 1977, p. 7. 
(4) OJ No L 180, 20. 7. 1977, p. 58. 
(•) OJ No L 344, 31. 12. 1979, p. 1. 
(6) OJ No L 361, 29. 12. 1973, p. 18. 
(') OJNoC 160,7. 10. 1974, p. 1. 
(«) OJNoL256, 7. 10. 1977, p. 12. 
O OJ No L 257, 30. 9. 1978, p. 78. 1. Where a Member State makes use of its option 
under Article 1, the following rules shall apply: 
(a) the aids shall be paid to the coking-coal producer 
undertakings in respect of their disposals of their 
own coal; 
(b) the aids may be paid only where the coal is used 
for coking and the coke in question is actually 
consumed in the blast furnaces of the Community 
iron and steel industry; 
(c) the aids may be paid only where deliveries of 
coking coal and blast-furnace coke are made 
under a long-term contract. 
2. The production aids referred to in Article 1 (a) 
of this Decision may be paid only after the rates 
thereof have been authorized by the Commission. 
The authorization shall be given by the Commission 
with due regard to the criteria referred to in Article 1 
(a). For this purpose Member States shall, by 
1 November of each year, submit their applications 
for the following calendar year, together with sup­
porting documents. The Commission shall give its 
ruling within two months after receipt of the 
application. 
13.2.80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 36/3 
3. The sales aid referred to in Article 1 (b) may be 
granted only if it is passed on in the form of price 
rebate to the purchaser of coking coal or blast­
furnace coke. When a coal undertaking passes the 
production aid on to his buyers, this shall not give 
rise to discrimination between the various long-term 
contracts to be performed by that undertaking. 
SECTION II 
Pricing rules 
Article 3 
1. Coal undertakings are authorized, where 
necessary, to grant rebates on their list prices, for 
disposals of coking coal and blast-furnace coke for 
the Community iron and steel industry under long-
term contract, even where there is no actual 
competition from coal or coke from non-member 
countries at the point of consumption. 
2. The rebates allowed under (1) above shall not 
cause the delivered prices of Community coal and 
coke to work out lower than those which would be 
charged for coking coal from non-member countries 
and coke made from non-member country coking 
coal. 
3. All other provisions concerning the alignment 
provided for by Article 60 (2) (b) last subparagraph of 
the Treaty, and decisions in implementation thereof, 
shall apply to the transactions referred to in (1) 
above, in particular those which allow the 
Commission, in the event of abuse, to abrogate or 
restrict the right of the undertakings concerned to 
grant such rebates. 
Article 4 
Should an undertaking infringe the rules laid down in 
Article 3, the provisions of Article 64 of the Treaty 
shall apply. 
Article 5 
1. The delivered prices of coking coal from non-
member countries referred to in Articles 1 (a) and 
3 (2) shall be calculated from the prices cif 
Community ports for comparable transactions. For 
this purpose the Commission fixes guide cif prices. 2. The delivered prices of blast-furnace coke from 
non-member countries referred to in Article 3 (2) 
shall be calculated from the cif prices for coking coal 
referred to in (1) above in such a way as to cover in 
full the net coking costs of the supplying coking 
plants. 
SECTION III 
Community financing arrangements 
Article 6 
Community financing arrangements shall be set up 
for: 
— sales aids paid in pursuance of Section I of this 
Decision in respect of intra-Community trade; 
— the amount of the contributions by the iron and 
steel industries of member countries not engaged 
in intra-Community trade, in so far as their 
production of coking coal covers at least 75 % of 
the requirements of their blast-furnaces. 
A special fund administered by the Commission shall 
be instituted for this purpose. 
Article 7 
1. The Community financing arrangements shall 
cover an annual quantity of coking coal amounting to 
no more than 15 million tonnes and an amount of no 
more than 47 million EUA per year. 
2. The special fund shall be financed annually as 
follows: 
(a) The contribution of the European Coal and Steel 
Community shall be six million EUA; 
(b) The overall contribution of the Member States 
shall amount to no more than 24 million EUA on 
the following scale (in MEUA): 
Germany 7 • 75 
Belgium 3-25 
France 7•00 
Italy 3 • 00 
Luxembourg 1-50 
Netherlands 1 • 50 
(c) The overall contribution of the iron and steel 
industries not referred to in the second indent of 
Article 6 shall be 17 million EUA; this amount 
shall be apportioned among the iron and steel 
undertakings on the basis of their consumption of 
blast-furnace coke. 
No C 36/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 13.2. 80 
The contribution of the iron and steel industries 
referred to in the second indent of Article 6 is 
calculated on the basis of the rate per tonne of 
consumption applicable to the other undertakings. 
Article 8 
1. The supplier States may apply for 
reimbursement from the special fund of aids actually 
paid. 
2. The Commission shall check the applications 
and determine the amounts to be reimbursed from the 
special fund to the Member States concerned. If the 
tonnages concerned exceed the limit fixed in Article 7 
(1), the reimbursements shall be correspondingly 
reduced. The percentage of the reduction is the same 
for each of the supplier States. 
If the tonnages concerned do not attain the limit 
fixed in Article 7(1) the reimbursements shall be 
assured by having priority recourse to the ECSC 
contribution and the contribution of the iron and 
steel industry. The contribution of the Member States 
shall be reduced accordingly so as to cover the 
balance of the requirements of the special fund. 
3. The Commission shall fix the contributions to be 
paid into the special fund. 
4. To speed up Community financing, the supplier 
countries shall notify the Commission of the deliveries 
of coking coal qualifying for aid made during the 
preceding quarter under Article 6. On the basis of 
these notifications, the Commission shall request the 
Member States to pay the corresponding amounts. 
The Commission shall forthwith apportion these 
amounts between the supplier States, at the same time 
as the corresponding contribution of the European 
Coal and Steel Community. The Commission shall 
call for contributions from the steelmaking under­
takings and immediately apportion the payments 
among the States concerned. 
5. The final accounts shall be settled at the 
beginning of each calendar year in respect of the 
preceding year. 
SECTION IV 
General and final provisions 
Article 9 
1. The Commission shall take into account the aids 
provided for in this Decision in assessing whether the aids referred to in Articles 6 to 12 of Decision No 
528/76/ECSC of 25 February 1976 are liable to 
interfere with the proper functioning of the common 
market. 
2. The Commission shall also ensure that the aids 
provided for in this Decision do not have the effect of 
distorting conditions of competition between coal, 
coke and iron or steel undertakings. 
Article 10 
1. In an emergency, the Commission may, by 
decisions taken after consultation with the Consul­
tative Committee and the European Parliament and 
after the unanimous assent of the Council has been 
given, amend: 
— the rate of the sales aids, 
— the ceiling to intra-Community trade, 
— the rules governing the financing of the special 
fund, 
— the scale referred to in Article 7 (2) (b). 
These amendments shall take account of the long-
term trend -of supply conditions and the supply 
pattern within the Community. 
2. If at the request of a Member State or on its 
own initiative the Commission finds that: 
(a) the implementation of this Decision is liable to 
give rise to serious disturbances in the common 
market for coal and steel, or to difficulties which 
may result in a deterioration in the regional 
economy, or that 
(b) appreciable changes are taking place in the 
conditions, volume or pattern of intra-
Community trade, thus altering the economic 
conditions prompting the adoption of this 
Decision, it may suspend application of this 
Decision. It shall refer the matter to the Council 
and the European Parliament forthwith. 
3. If at the request of a Member State or acting on 
its own initiative the Commission finds that per­
formance of the long-term contracts is jeopardizing 
the attainment of the objectives of this Decision, it 
13.2. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 36/5 
may, in respect of the undertakings in question, 
suspend or limit the benefits deriving from the 
application of Article 1. 
4. In an emergency, the Commission shall, on the 
request of a Member State, lay down without delay 
the necessary safeguarding measures, notify the other 
Member States accordingly and refer the matter to 
the Council forthwith. 
Article 11 
The Commission shall periodically report to the 
Council and the European Parliament on the 
application of this Decision and on developments in 
the supply situation, in particular in connection with 
intra-Community trade. Article 12 
After consulting the Council and the Consultative 
Committee, the Commission shall take all measures 
necessary for the application of this Decision. 
Article 13 
This Decision shall enter into force on 1 August 1973. 
Sections I, II and III apply retrospectively from 
1 January 1973 to deliveries of coking coal and coke 
effected since that date. 
This Decision shall cease to have effect on 
31 December 1981. 
This Decision shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States.