13.

The provisions governing the adaptation allowance appear in guidelines adopted by the Federal Ministry of the Economy on the granting of the adaptation allowance to employees in the coal mining industry of 13 December 1971 ( 5 ) and 22 September 1988. ( 6 ) Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the 1971 guidelines, as in force from 1983, provide as follows: ‘Paragraph 3 An adaptation allowance may be granted only if the worker 1. has been laid off by the employer between 30 June 1971 and 1 January 1990 following closure or a rationalization measure, for reasons not attributable to him, 2. would, if he had retained the post which he held in the undertaking until that time, have fulfilled, within a period not exceeding five years — reckoned from the day on which he was laid off — the conditions for entitlement to: (a) the miners' retirement pension (Paragraph 48(1) of the Reichknappschaftsgesetz (RKG) [Law governing the Mineworkers' Insurance Fund]), (b) the miners' retirement pension following a period of unemployment (Paragraph 48(2) of the RKG), (c) the miners' retirement pension for miners who have completed a specified length of service (Paragraph 48(1), point 2, of the RKG), (d) the miners' retirement pension under Paragraph 48(3) or (5) of the RKG or (e) the compensatory benefit for miners (Paragraph 98a of the RKG), 3. in the cases covered by 2(a), (b) and (d), has completed, when he is laid off, an insurance period of at least 180 calendar months, and 4. has worked in a German coal mine without interruption during the two years before he is laid off, unless that period was interrupted for reasons not attributable to him. The undertaking's social redeployment scheme under which the worker is laid off must have been drawn up in concert with the Federal Minister of the Economy ... Paragraph 4 1. The amount of the adaptation allowance shall be calculated by application by analogy of the rules governing (1) the compensatory benefit for miners in the cases provided for by paragraph 3, point 2(e), and (2) the miners' retirement pension in the other cases provided for in paragraph 3, point 2, taking account of the rights acquired by the worker for the purposes of the miners' retirement pension, on termination of employment. In the cases provided for under (a), (b) and (d) of paragraph 3, point 2, for calculation of the adaptation allowance account shall also be taken of the rights acquired for the purposes of the retirement pension under the general scheme for employees ... 2. If the laid-off worker receives a pension or temporary allowance under a miners' insurance scheme, a sickness benefit following termination of employment, an invalidity benefit or analogous benefits paid by social security institutions of other States, the amount of such benefit shall be taken into account in calculating the amount of the adaptation allowance. The same shall apply to the family benefits provided for by the Bundeskindergeldgesetz available to the laid-off worker, unless the adaptation allowance does not include a family supplement for the same child. 3. ... 4. Save as otherwise provided, the rules governing the miners' retirement pension shall apply by analogy ...’. In 1988, new rules adopted by the Federal Ministry of the Economy on the granting of an adaptation allowance for workers in the mining industry came into force, repealing the earlier guidelines. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the new guidelines provide as follows: ‘3. Conditions for award of the allowance 3.1 An adaptation allowance may be granted only if the worker: 3.1.1 was laid off before 1 January 1995 for reasons not attributable to him; 3.1.2 would, if he had retained the post which he held in the undertaking until that time, have fulfilled, within a period not exceeding five years reckoned from the day on which he was laid off, the conditions for entitlement to: (a) the miners' retirement pension (paragraph 48, point 1, of the RKG), (b) the miners' retirement pension following a period of unemployment (paragraph 48, point 2, of the RKG), (c) the miners' retirement pension for miners who have completed a specified length of service (paragraph 48(1), point 2, of the RKG), (d) the miners' retirement pension under paragraph 48(3) of the RKG, (e) the miners' retirement pension provided for in paragraph 48(5) of the RKG, or (f) the compensatory benefit for miners (paragraph 98a of the RKG); 3.1.3 in the cases covered by 3.1.2(a), (b) and (d), proves that, when he is laid off, he has paid contributions for at least 180 months and, in the case under (e), at least 60 months, and 3.1.4 has worked without interruption in German mining undertakings or mining brown coal during the two years immediately before he is laid off ... 3.2 The worker may only receive the adaptation allowance if the undertaking mining brown coal takes on a worker previously engaged in the mining of hard coal (Steinkohle) or one from a special mining undertaking. 3.3 The social redeployment plan of the undertaking laying off the worker must have been approved by the Federal Ministry of the Economy ... 4. Nature, extent and amount of the benefit 4.1 The adaptation allowance 4.1.1 Pursuant to the rules governing (a) the compensatory benefit for miners in the cases covered by 3.1.2(f), or (b) the miners' retirement pension in the other cases covered by 3.1.2, the amount of the adaptation allowance shall be calculated taking into account the rights acquired by the worker for the purposes of the miners' retirement pension when he is laid off. In the cases covered by 3.1.2(a), (b), (d) and (e), account shall also be taken, for calculation of the adaptation allowance, of the rights acquired for the purposes of the retirement pension for employees ... 4.1.2 If the laid-off worker receives from a social security institution of another State a benefit under the mining scheme ..., a sickness benefit or benefit for permanent incapacity for work after cessation of employment, an invalidity pension or other benefits of that kind, the amount thereof shall be taken into account in calculating the amount of the adaptation allowance. The same shall apply to family benefits provided for by the Bundeskindergeldgesetz to which the laid-off worker is entitled, unless the amount of the adaptation allowance does not include a family supplement for the same child; 4.1.3 The adaptation allowance ... shall be granted for a maximum period of five years 4.1.4 Save as otherwise provided, the provisions governing the miners' retirement pension shall apply by analogy. 4.2 Sickness insurance contributions 4.2.1 During the period in which the worker receives the adaptation allowance, the German authorities shall assume responsibility, out of public funds, for continuing voluntary sickness insurance contributions for the worker, without his thereby becoming entitled to receive benefits for temporary incapacity for work in that event ... However, such contributions shall cease to be the responsibility of those authorities in any period during which the worker is in paid employment or is self-employed to a significant extent ...’.