CELEX: 31983D0158
Language: en
Date: 1983-04-07 00:00:00
Title: 83/158/ECSC: Commission Decision of 7 April 1983 approving aids from the Federal Republic of Germany to the coal-mining industry during 1982

19 . 4 . 83                           Official Journal of the European Communities                              No L 100/9
                                                                II
                                        (Acts whose publication is not obligatory)
                                                 COMMISSION
                                                COMMISSION DECISION
                                                        of 7 April 1983
             approving aids from the Federal Republic of Germany to the coal-mining
                                                    industry during 1982
                                             (Only the German text is authentic)
                                                         (83/ 158/ECSC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN                                     — Aid for development and innovation
COMMUNITIES,                                                            (testing and trial of new equipment)
                                                                        in the coal-mining industry :                67,0
                                                                   — Premiums to shift-paid workers and
Having regard to Commission Decision 528/76/ECSC                        piece workers for each shift worked
of 25 February 1976 regarding the Community system                      underground :                               220,0
of measures taken by the Member States to assist the
coal-mining industry ('),                                          — Aid for the entertainment of long­
                                                                         term security stocks :                     143,5
Having consulted the Council,                                       Whereas these aids meet the criteria laid down in the
                                                                    Decision for the admissibility of such State assistance ;
                                                                    Whereas the investment of DM 478 400 000 — in­
                             I                                      cluding a special aid of DM 168 000 000 awarded to
                                                                    the Eschweiler Bergwerksverein — is proposed for
                                                                    investment projects for mines, coking plants, briquette
Whereas the Government of the Federal Republic of                   works and pit-head power stations ; whereas the
                                                                    percentage of all investment covered by investment aid
Germany has informed the Commission, pursuant to
Article 2 of the Decision, of the financial measures                is just under 50 % ;
which it intends to implement directly or indirectly
for the benefits of the coal industry in 1982 ; whereas             Whereas in relation to the Community's new policy
of these measures the following may be approved                     for coal, this 1982 investment aid, which fell by 30 %
pursuant to that Decision :                                          vis-a-vis 1981 , is to be regarded as beneficial since it
                                                                    will promote the long-term stabilization of production
                                                (million DM)        in the German coalfields. The aid complies with the
                                                                    provisions of Article 7 ( 1 ) of the Decision ;
— Investment aids to individual projects
     under an investment programme :                478,4           Whereas, pursuant to Article 7 (5) of the Decision, the
                                                                    Federal Government must notify the Commission at
(') OJ No L 63, 11 . 3 . 1976, p. 1 .                               least once a year, in respect of each project in the
 ---pagebreak--- No L 100 / 10                      Official Journal of the European Communities                             19 . 4 . 83
programme which it has decided to carry out, of the          Republic of Germany is more heavily subsidized (per
aims pursued, the sums invested and the amounts of           tonne) than in the United Kingdom and substantially
the aid ;                                                    less than in France and Belgium ;
                                                             Whereas the following remarks can be made on the
Whereas the sum of DM 67 000 000 to promote inno­
vation is intended to ensure that research results are       compatibility of these aids for current production with
                                                             the proper functioning of the common market :
applied to production as quickly as possible ; whereas
the aid is lower than the costs borne by the under­          — owing to the stocks of coal and coke on hand there
takings and is granted in respect of individual projects           were no supply difficulties in 1982,
which, when completed, are likely to prove their
economic worth to coal-mining in the medium term ;           — the level of exports of German coal to the other
whereas the purpose and amount of this aid show that               Member States fell in 1982 compared with 1981 ,
it is compatible with the third subparagraph of Article      — price alignment agreements were hardly entered
7 (3) of the Decision ;                                            into in 1982,
                                                             — industrial      consumers    of coal did  not   receive
Whereas the aid of DM 220 000 000 towards the                      indirect aid in 1982 as a result of the prices of
payment of the coal-winning premium helps the coal                 German coking coal and steam coal,
industry to secure a stable, skilled workforce, which is     — rationalization of production in 1982 was achieved
imperative if its productivity is to increase ; whereas            by investment ;
the undertakings moreover incur expenditure on the
necessary recruitment, training, retraining and reten­       Whereas it may therefore be concluded that the
tion of workers which is several times the amount of
                                                             German aids for current production in the coal
aid in the form of this premium ;                            industry in 1982 are compatible with the proper func­
                                                             tioning of the common market ;
Whereas the purpose and amount of the coal-winning
premium show that this measure is compatible with            Whereas this applies even when account is taken of
Article 8 of the Decision ;                                  aids to the coal mines under Decision 73 /287/ ECSC :
Whereas the aid of DM 143 500 000 for the entertain­
                                                                                          III
ment of long-term security stocks is a measure by the
Federal Government to increase the long-term security
of energy supply ; whereas to this end, the emergency        Whereas, pursuant to Article 14 ( 1 ) of the Decision,
association of German mining industries has                  the Commission must ensure that the aids authorized
purchased 10 million tonnes of coal and coke ;               are used for the purposes set out in Articles 7 to 12
whereas the aid proposed by the Federal Government           thereof ; whereas the Commission must be informed,
for this purpose covers only part of the actual current      in particular, of the amount of the aids and of the
cost of maintaining these stocks ;                           manner in which they were apportioned,
Whereas the purpose and amount of the aid show that
this measure is compatible with Article 10 of the
                                                             HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION :
Decision ;
                                                                                      Article 1
                            II
                                                             The Federal Republic of Germany is hereby author­
                                                             ized in respect of the 1982 calendar year to grant the
Whereas, in accordance with Article 3 (2) of the Deci­       following aids to the coal-mining industry ;
sion, an examination of the compatibility of the above­
mentioned aids with the proper functioning of the             1 . Grant of investment aid not exceeding DM
common market must also extend to all other finan­                478 400 000 for undertakings in the coal industry
cial measures to support current production in 1982 ;             in order to increase investment ;
                                                             2. Promotion of development and innovation not
                                                                  exceeding DM 67 000 000 ;
Whereas on this basis the total cost of the proposed
measures amounts to 754 800 000 ECU, i.e. 7,97 ECU           3 . Payment of premiums to shift-paid workers and
per tonne produced ; whereas, compared with other                 piece workers for each shift worked underground,
Member States, current production in the Federal                  not exceeding DM 220 000 000 ;
 ---pagebreak--- 19 . 4. 83                        Official Journal of the European Communities                       No L 100/ 11
4. Aid not exceeding DM 143 500 000 for the enter­                                Article 3
    tainment of long-term security stocks.
                                                            This Decision is addressed to the Federal Republic of
                                                            Germany.
                        Article 2
                                                            Done at Brussels, 7 April 1983 .
The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany
shall notify the Commission by 30 April 1983 of                                     For the Commission
details of the aids granted pursuant to this Decision,                               Étienne DAVIGNON
and in particular of the amounts paid and the manner
in which they are apportioned.                                                           Vice-President