WRITTEN QUESTION E-0151/00 by Nicholas Clegg (ELDR) to the Commission. State aid and the coal industry.
Date: 2000-01-31
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU control, Germany, coal industry, control of State aid, privatisation

C 374 E/30

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

28.12.2000

the Vice-President
Furthermore, a high level group has been created, under the chairmanship of
responsible for transport and energy to review the issues associated with delays in air traffic management.
The HLG will complete its review in June 2000 and the Commission will report progress to the Council
and the Parliament.

(2000/C 374 E/035)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0151/00

by Nicholas Clegg (ELDR) to the Commission

(31 January 2000)

Subject: State aid and the coal industry

Can the Commission confirm that its examination of the merger between Ruhrkohle AG Saarbergewerke
AG and Preussag Anthrazit GmbH in 1998 has revealed that state aid was granted by the German
Government? What steps is the Commission taking to secure repayment of this state aid?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(1 March 2000)

The Commission can confirm that it has been examining the possibility that non-notified state aid may
have been involved in the purchase of the publicly-owned Saarbergwerke AG by the private sector
company RAG Aktiengesellschaft (RAG AG).

As a result of these investigations, the Commission decided, on 18 January 2000, to send a letter of formal
notice to the German government requesting it to provide in the month following receipt of the letter: a
detailed and quantified economic evaluation of the risks involved for RAG AG in acquiring Saarbergwerke
AG; a detailed commercial and financial evaluation of each of the subsidiary companies in the Saarberg-
werke AG group at the time of the merger together with the expected future cash flows; a detailed
commercial and financial evaluation of the synergies available to Deutsche Steinkohle AG in acquiring the
coal producing activities of Saarbergwerke AG; a detailed commercial and financial evaluation of the
synergies available to RAG AG in acquiring the non-coal producing activities of Saarbergwerke AG; and
an explanation as to why the price of DEM 1, paid by RAG AG for Saarbergwerke AG, was not notified as
state aid to the coal sector as defined under Article 1 paragraphs 2 and 4 of Commission Decision
No 3632/93/ECSC of 28 December 1993 establishing Community rules for State aid to the coal
industry (1) if Germany considered this to be risk insurance for RAG AG.

The letter will also be published in the Official journal with an invitation to third parties to submit their
comments within a month of the date of publication. Any observations received will then be forwarded to
the German government for their reaction.

On the basis of these replies, the Commission will then take a final decision on whether or not non-
notified state aid was involved in the acquisition.

(1) OJ L 329, 30.12.1993.

(2000/C 374 E/036)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0174/00

by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Request that the ECB change the system of weekly auctions

(31 January 2000)

Some Spanish banks have called for changes to be made to the mechanisms of the ECB(cid:146)s monetary policy,
such as the weekly repo auctions, because they penalise Spanish financial institutions.