CELEX: 31971D0121
Language: en
Date: 1971-02-17 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 17 February 1971 concerning aid granted under § 32 of the law relating to adjustment and reorganization in the German collieries and mining areas

54                                Official Journal of the European Communities
 10.3.71                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             No L 57/ 19
                                              COMMISSION DECISION
                                                   of 17 February 1971
                concerning aid granted under § 32 of the law relating to adjustment and reorganization
                                       in the German collieries and mining areas
                                            (Only the German text is authentic,)
                                                      (71 / 121 /EEC)
 THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN                                   visons concerning taxation and grants (Steuerande ­
 COMMUNITIES,                                                     rungsgesetz 1969) (BGB1 1 , p. 1211 ) extended untile
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the Euro­                January 1972 the concessional period provided for in
 pean Economic Community, and in particular the                   § 32 of the Kohlegesetz; whereas the Law entered
 first subparagraph of Article 93 (2) thereof;                    into force on 22 August 1969 (Article 13 ) ;
                                                                                              II
 Having regard to the written and oral observation of
 the Member States and others concerned;                          Whereas the investment grant provided for by § 32
                                                                  of the Kohlegesetz constitutes an advantage for un­
                             I                                    dertakings which build or enlarge industrial premises
 Whereas under § 32 of the Law of 15 May 1968 re­                 in the German mining areas ; whereas that grant con­
lating to adjustment and reorganization in the Ger­               stitutes State aid within the meaning of Article 92 ( 1 )
man     collieries  and mining     areas   (Kohlegesetz)          of the Treaty;
 (BGB1 1 , p. 365), persons liable to tax whose profits
 are established on the basis of regular accounting pro­          Whereas with examining the aid project in 1967, on
                                                                  the basis of the economic considerations advanced , of
cedures and who after 30 April 1967 have built or
enlarged industrial premises in a mining area may,                the objective in view and of the then recognized need
upon application, deduct from income tax or corpo­                to accelerate the diversification of industry in the
ration tax up to 10 % of the cost of depreciable fixed            coalmining areas of the Community, the Commission
assets obtained or produced after 30 April 1967 and               was of the opinion that the project could be con­
before 1 January 1970 (concessional period) in con­               sidered compatible with the common market within
nection with the building or enlargement of those in­             the meaning of Article 92 (3 ) (c);
dustrial premises ; whereas that concession also ap­
plies to depreciable fixed assets obtained or produced            Whereas the Commission is of the opinion that the
within two years of the expiry of the concessional                proposal to extend the period of application of the
period if those assets form part of premises which the            aid is not compatible with the common market in so
person liable to tax began to build or enlarge during             far as it represents an encouragement to investment
the concessional period (extra concessional period);              in all the mining regions of the Land of North Rhine­
                                                                  Westphalia; whereas, by letter of 30 July 1970, the
Whereas this deduction is permissible only if the Fed­            Commission initiated the procedure provided for in
eral representative for the coal mining industry has              Article 93 (2) of the EEC Treaty and invited the
                                                                  German Government to take no further decision
issued the certificate in accordance with § 32 (2) of
the Kohlegesetz in consultation with the department               after 1 December 1970 concerning investment grants
determined by the Government of the Land ; whereas                in North Rhine-Westphalia;
to that end the industrial premises so built or en­
                                                                                             III
larged must be such as to improve the economic struc­
ture of the coalmining region, be particularly deserv­            Whereas the economic situation in the Land of North
ing of encouragement from the economic standpoint                 Rhine-Westphalia has greatly improved since the
and serve to create an adequate number of additional              draft law was communicated in 1967; whereas the
jobs;                                                             average rate of economic expansion of that Land is at
                                                                  least equal to that of the other regions of the Federal
Whereas Article 9 of the Law of 19 August 1969 re­                Republic; whereas, furthermore, product per head
lating to investment grants and amending certain pro­             has increased as rapidly in North Rhine-Westphalia
 ---pagebreak---                                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                    55
as in the Federal territory as a whole; whereas it has      Whereas to continue granting aid in the present form
always been above the Federal average; whereas even         would tend to increase still further differences in
in the Ruhr the output per head is practically equal        living standards between the regions of the Commu­
to the Federal average ; whereas gross hourly indus­         nity, contrary to the objectives laid down in Article 2
trial wages in North Rhine-Westphalia are the se­           of the Treaty, and would alter trading conditions in
cond highest in Federal Germany, coming close be­            a way contrary to the common interest; whereas § 32
hind those of Hamburg;                                      of the Kohlegesetz is not specific as to the undertak­
                                                            ings to be assisted nor as to the localities in which
Whereas stocks of coal which in 1966 reached 24             the building or enlargement of industrial premises
million metric tons in Federal Germany, dropped to          should be encouraged in order to achieve the structu­
5-1 million metric tons in 1969 and were only about         ral improvement aimed at in the regions in question;
3-9 million metric tons at the end of 1970 ; whereas        whereas furthermore there is no provision ensuring
there are practically no more stocks of coking coal ;       priority of employment for workers who lost their
whereas part-time working due to lack of demand             previous jobs as a result of the mine closures ;
has been discontinued;
                                                                                        V
Whereas the unemployment figures in North Rhine­            Whereas the provision of investment grants under
Westphalia, which averaged 2-3 % in 1967, have              § 32 of the Kohlegesetz must cease in North Rhine­
dropped to only 0-5 % since the end of 1969 ; whereas       Westphalia so long as selective application of that
on 31 October 1970 there were 155 000 unfilled va­          system is not ensured ; whereas not to apply the sys­
cancies in North Rhine-Westphalia, of which 50 000          tem of aid requires no amendment of the Law ; where­
were in the Ruhr;                                           as for the aid to be operated selectively the Federal re­
                                                            presentative for the coalmining industry need only, in
Whereas according to information supplied by the            respect of projects in North Rhine-Westphalia, issue
German Government in 1967 the forecasts on which            certificates, in accordance with § 32 (2 ) of the Law,
§ 32 of the Kohlegesetz was based included the crea­        on the basis of criteria complying with the principles
tion of 20 000 new jobs in the German mining areas          of Article 92 of the EEC Treaty;
as a whole ; whereas in fact up to 1 October 1970 in
North Rhine-Westphalia alone applications relating          Whereas undertakings which have obtained a certifi­
to investments amounting to 10-7 thousand million           cate from that representative can take advantage of
DM were approved; whereas these investments                 the extra concessional period provided for in the se­
should create 86 000 new jobs;                              cond sentence of § 32(1 ) and whereas, therefore, a
                                                            transitional period is not necessary,
                          IV
                                                            HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION :
Whereas the system of aid provided for in § 32 of the
Kohlegesetz does not fulfil the conditions of Article
                                                                                    Article 1
92 (2 ) of the EEC Treaty since the system constitutes
regionally undifferentiated support for investment in       The Federal Republic of Germany shall forthwith
the mining areas of North Rhine-Westphalia;                 take all necessary measures to put an end in North
                                                            Rhine-Westphalia to the non-selective provision of
Whereas the conditions under which the system of aid        investment grants under § 32 ( 1 ) of the Law relating
could be considered as compatible with the common           to adjustment and reorganization in the German col­
market in accordance with Article 92 ( 3 ) ( a) or ( b)     lieries and mining agreas (Kohlegesetz) , as amended
are not fulfilled ; whereas there is neither an abnor­      by Article 9 of the Law of 18 August 1969 (Steuer ­
mally low standard of living nor is there serious           dnderungsgesetz) .
underemployment in the North Rhine-Westphalia
mining areas; whereas, moreover, this aid does not                                  Article 2
serve to put an end to a serious disturbance in the         This Decision is addressed to the Federal Republic of
economy of the Federal Republic of Germany;                 Germany.
Whereas, because of the changed situation in North          Done at Brussels, 17 February 1971 .
Rhine-Westphalia since 1967, the conditions for the
application of Article 92 (3 ) (c) are no longer ful­                         For the Commission
filled; whereas the recipient regions are very highly
industrialized; whereas income per head and the                                  The President
level of employment are high;                                                Franco M. MALFATTI