CELEX: 51983PC0447
Language: en
Date: 1983-08-08
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) CONCERNING FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE COMMUNITY IN FAVOUR OF INDUSTRIES PRODUCING SOLID FUELS

No C 232/6                             Official Journal of the European Communities                              30.8.83
              Proposal for a Council Regulation concerning financial support of the Community it
                                           favour of industries producing solid fuels
                             (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 12 August 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                        Whereas in the case of hard-coal mines, this support
COMMUNITIES,                                                       must concentrate on potentially highly-productive
                                                                   capacity, whether already in operation or yet to be
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                       opened up;
European Economic Community and in particular
Article 235 thereof,
                                                                   Whereas, in order to qualify for aid, hard-coal
                                                                   mining undertakings must submit for Commission
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                 approval a modernization and restructuring pro-
                                                                   gramme covering not only the investments but also
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-                  closures of any production capacity which is in heavy
                                                                   deficit and clearly uncompetitive;
liament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                   Whereas in order to qualify, investment projects in
Social Committee,                                                  hard-coal mines must concern underground capacity
                                                                   where the average underground output before
                                                                   investment is at least 380 kg per man/hour or, in the
                               I                                   case of new capacity, where the planned output is at
                                                                   least 600 kg per man/hour;
 Whereas under Article 2 of the Treaty it is the
Community's       task to promote           throughout   the
Community a harmonious development of economic                     Whereas the structures, machinery and buildings
activities, a continuous and balanced expansion and an             directly associated with the extraction and the
                     increase in stability                         preparation of the coal are eligible.
Whereas in this context it is imperative for the
Community to diversify its sources of energy supply                                           III
in order to reduce its oil consumption;
                                                                    Whereas brown coal and peat are of considerable
Whereas wider use of solid fuels is important for                   importance for energy supplies and as replacements for
reducing oil consumption as is the production of solid                                        oil
fuels within the Community for the diversification of
sources of energy supply;
                                                                   Whereas some Member States have great potential
                                                                   for increasing their production and consumption of
Whereas the development of a modern solid-fuels                    brown coal and peat, whether in bulk or briquetted,
industry would have a beneficial effect on                          under economically attractive conditions;
employment in the Community;
                                                                   Whereas development of this potential likewise calls
                               II                                   for relatively heavy investment which is too high for
                                                                    the undertakings to finance;
 Whereas a high level of investment is needed to improve
 the productivity of mines with good geological and
 technical conditions and to open up new capacities with            Whereas producers of brown coal and peat must
                       high productivity                            submit a long-term development programme for
                                                                    Commission approval in order to qualify for this aid;
Whereas the mining industry can provide only a
 limited proportion of the substantial funds needed to              Whereas, in order to qualify, investments in brown
 finance these investments from its own resources;                  coal and peat must increase production capacity in
                                                                    the long term and involve either preparation of the
 Whereas in the circumstances greater support from                  sites or structures, machines and buildings directly
 the Community is needed to ensure adequate                         connected with the production of peat and brown
 investment in the solid-fuels industry;                            coal;
 ---pagebreak--- 30.8.83                               Official Journal of the European Communities                          N o C 232/7
                            IV                                                                VI
                                                                  Whereas the Community bodies must be given the
 Whereas the current scheme of interest relief on loans in
                                                                  requisite powers to manage the system and verify the
support of investment in the coal industry should be
   additional to a system of direct but limited subsidies
                                                                                            facts
                                                                 Whereas the Commission must ensure that the aid
Whereas a limited, but substantial contribution should           granted does not adversely affect the conditions of
be made, in the form of direct, non-repayable aid of             competition in a manner incompatible with the
up to 25 % of the eligible investment in the coal,               principles of the EEC and ECSC Treaties;
brown-coal and peat industries, within the limits of
the appropriations entered in the budget of the                  Whereas such action is in essence pan           of  the
European Communities for this purpose;                           Community's economic and energy policies;
Whereas the Commission may pay advances of up to                 Whereas the Treaty does not provide the specific
90 % to undertakings receiving aid towards their                 powers necessary for these purposes,
investments;
                                                                 HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                            V
                                                                                          Article 1
 Whereas at the end of 1983 total producers' coal stocks
could exceed the equivalent of three months production           This Regulation concerns financial incentives for the:
of coal; whereas such a high level is manifestly excessive
in relation to the state of the market and to security of        1. modernization of hard-coal production;
                   supply considerations
                                                                 2. reduction of stocks           held by  undertakings
                                                                     producing hard coal;
Whereas the financial burden imposed by these stocks
limits the capacity to invest in modernizing the coal            3. production of brown coal and peat.
mines and making them more profitable;
                                                                                        SECTION I
Whereas this state of affairs runs counter to the
Community's energy policy objectives concerning the                        Modernization of hard-coal production
role of solid fuels in the diversification of energy
supplies;
                                                                                          Article 2
Whereas temporary action must be taken to reduce                 Under the conditions laid down in this Regulation,
existing stocks and thereby remedy this situation;               the Community may grant undertakings producing
whereas this action would help expand the solid-fuels            coal non-repayable aid as a financial incentive
market in a manner compatible with rational use of               towards investment in hard-coal production.
energy;
                                                                                          Article 3
Whereas this action must benefit coal-mining under-
takings which have received financial support for an             To qualify for the aid provided for by Article 2, coal
investment project and approval for a modernization              undertakings must first have obtained Commission
programme including destocking measures;                         approval for the modernization and restructuring
                                                                 programme for their workings, covering the period
                                                                 from 1984 to 1988 at least and possibly entailing the
Whereas the grant of aid must be coupled to stock
                                                                 closure of highly uneconomic and obviously
reductions by each undertaking during the period this
                                                                 uncompetitive capacities.
Regulation applies;
                                                                 The programme must indicate forecasts          for  the
Whereas the basis for calculating aid cannot include             following in particular:
transfers of quantities which do not correspond to the
objective of real reduction in stocks and in associated          — technically-exploitable hard-coal reserves, location
expense;                                                              of the deposits and grades of coal;
 ---pagebreak---   No C 232/8                          Official Journal of the European Communities                               30.8.83
 — the deposits being prepared;                                   3.    The Commission shall decide on the granting of
                                                                  Community aid to each project for the annual
 — the deposits where closure is planned for the                  expenditure foreseen for its realisation. This decision
     period 1984 to 1988;                                         shall be notified        to the undertaking         and
                                                                  communicated to the national authorities.
 — the annual production schedule for each pit;
 — estimated average productivity at each pit (under-                                     Article 6
     ground output per manhour);
 — estimated sales;                                               1.    Investment projects shall be eligible for the aid
                                                                 provided for in Article 2 where they concern under-
 — changes in annual stock levels;                               ground capacity which has, before investment, an
                                                                 average annual underground output of at least 380 kg
— total annual investment by the undertaking.                    (kg = kg) per man/hour or, in the case of new
                                                                 capacities, for which the planned output is at least
                         Article 4                               600 kg (kg = kg) per man/hour.
Within the deadline which the Commission lays                    2.     Structures and equipment, machines and
 down, undertakings applying for the aid provided for            buildings directly associated with the preparation
 in Article 2 in respect of a project under the                  (washing, screening, blending) of the coal shall be
programme referred to in Article 3 shall send the                eligible investments.
 Commission a file covering in particular:
— a detailed description of the project and of its                                       Article 7
    likely impact, particularly on productivity;
— the position which the project occupies in the                 1.    The aid referred to in Article 2 shall not exceed
                                                                 a maximum of 25 % of the eligible investment
    programme referred to in Article 3;
                                                                 expenditure over the period for which this Regulation
— the time-scale for carrying out the project;                   applies.
— the cost of the project            and   the   financing       2.    Several Community aids may be combined
    arrangements proposed;                                       towards the investment, up to a limit of 30 % of the
                                                                 eligible investment expenditure.
— the timetable of annual investment expenditure;
— details of any financial support received or                                           Article 8
    expected from the Community or from the
    Member States;
                                                                 1.    By 31 January of the year following the
— current and forecast production costs;                        expenditure for carrying out the project eligible for
                                                                aid, the undertaking shall send the Commission all
— evaluation of       the    possible   effects   on   the      the relevant supporting documents together with a
    environment;                                                progress report on the project.
— the impact of the project on the employment
    situation;                                                  2.     Payment shall be made by the Commission once
                                                                a year, on the basis of the undertaking's spending on
— any other information which may justify the                   the project over the preceding calendar year and
    Community support requested.                                within the limits of the cumulative total set out in
                                                                Article 7 (2).
                         Article 5
                                                                 3.    The undertaking may request the Commission
1.    The undertaking shall send a copy of the                  to pay it advances of up to 90 % of the amount of
programme and of the project referred to in Articles            aid granted by the Commission.
3 and 4 to its national authorities.
                                                                4.     The Commission shall establish once a year on
2.    Prior to deciding whether to grant the aid                the basis of paragraph 3 the amount of aid still due to
provided for by Article 2, the Commission shall ask             the undertaking, or to be reimbursed by the under-
the national authorities to give their opinion on the           taking should the advances have exceeded the
programme and on the project within one month.                  definitive total for the year.
 ---pagebreak--- 30.8.83                              Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 232/9
5.     The undertaking shall compile, and send to the                                    Article 12
Commission, a final technical and financial report on
each project completed, within three months of                   1.    The assessment base for the Community aid
completion.                                                     shall be worked out for each undertaking at the end
                                                                of each of the three twelve-month periods following
                                                                the date on which this Regulation enters into force. It
                       SECTION II                               shall be equal to the reduction in stocks between the
                                                                beginning and end of that period, the tonnages of
                                                                coal, coke and patent fuel being counted together
                 Reduction of coal stocks
                                                                tonne for tonne.
                         Article 9                              2.     The assessment base for the Community aid
                                                                shall not include:
Under the conditions laid down in this Regulation,              (a) any reductions in stock caused by the undertaking
the Community may grant Community undertakings                       transferring amounts of coal to a storage agent
producing coal non-repayable aid related to the level                during that period;
of destocking in 1984, 1985 and 1986.
                                                                (b) any reductions in stock caused by the undertaking
                                                                     maintaining amounts on its own premises at its
                        Article 10                                   own expense after transferring them to a third
                                                                     party;
1.     To qualify for the aid provided by Article 9 coal        (c) any amounts which the undertaking has
undertakings must first have obtained from the                       transferred to third countries during the period
Commission approval for a modernization and re-                      under consideration over and above amounts
structuring programme including reduction of its                     marketed in these countries during the 1983
stocks and must have obtained investment aid in                      calendar year;
accordance with the provisions of Section I.
                                                                (d) any stock reductions which bring the under-
                                                                     taking's stock down, by the end of the period, to
2.    Account shall be taken only of reductions in                   an amount which is equal to or less than one-
those stocks of coal which were produced by the                      twelfth of its production of coal in that same
undertaking holding those stocks. As at 1 July 1983                  period;
these stocks must represent more than one-twelfth of
its coal production for 1983. The undertaking must              (e) any stock reductions which are offset by the
bear the cost of forming and maintaining the stocks.                 reconstitution of stock during the period to which
                                                                     the provisions in this Section apply.
                        Article 11
                                                                3.     Undertakings shall supply the Commission with
                                                                any reports on stock levels and any storage
1.    The grant referred to in Article 9 shall apply to         agreements which the latter considers necessary,
reduction of a total of 10 million tonnes of coal, coke         giving details of the period to which they apply,
and patent fuel each year for all beneficiary under-            breakdown by product, the location and ownership of
takings.                                                        the stocks and any information relating to marketing
                                                                in other countries.
2.    The rate of aid shall be 10 ECU per tonne of              4.     The Commission shall pay to those undertakings
stock reduction.                                                which apply for them at the end of each period any
                                                                amounts due to them.
3.    The rate shall be reduced if made necessary
because:                                                        5.     If an undertaking reconstitutes stocks as
                                                                referred to in paragraph 2 (e), it shall repay the
(a) the budgetary appropriations referred to in                 amount of the aid which it has unduly received.
     Article 22 below are not sufficient to grant 10
     ECU per tonne of stocks produced in one of the                                      Article 13
     periods referred to in Article 12 paragraph 1;
                                                                In the event of an undertaking knowingly supplying
(b) the total figure by which the volume of stocks is           false information, the Commission may impose upon
     reduced in a given period exceeds 10 million               it fines which may not exceed 1 % of its annual
     tonnes.                                                    turnover.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 232/10                         Official Journal of the European Communities                              30.8.83
                      SECTION III                              — an assessment of the possible effects on the
                                                                    environment;
           Production of brown coal and peat
                                                               — the impact of the project on the employment
                                                                    situation;
                       Article 14
                                                               — any other information             which may     justify
Under the conditions laid down in this Regulation,                  Community support.
the Community may grant undertakings producing
brown coal and peat non-repayable aid as a financial
incentive towards investment in brown coal and peat.                                    Article 17
                                                                1.    The undertaking shall send a copy of the
                       Article 15
                                                               programme and of the project referred to in Articles
                                                                15 and 16 to its national authorities.
To qualify for the aid provided for by Article 14,
undertakings must first have obtained from the
                                                               2.     Before deciding whether to grant the aid
Commission approval for a long-term development
                                                               provided for by Article 14, the Commission shall ask
programme covering at least the period from 1984 to
                                                               the national authorities to give their opinion of the
1988.
                                                               programme and of the project within one month.
The programme must indicate forecasts for            the
                                                               3.     The Commission shall decide on the granting of
following in particular:
                                                               Community aid to each project for the annual
                                                               expenditure forecast for its realization. This decision
— technically exploitable reserves of brown coal,
                                                               shall be notified         to the undertaking        and
    location of the deposits, and grades of brown coal
                                                               communicated to the national authorities.
    and peat;
— the deposits being prepared;                                                          Article 18
— the annual production schedule for each site;
                                                               Investment projects shall be eligible for the aid
                                                               provided for in Article 14 where they result in a long-
— the annual sales;
                                                               term increase in the undertaking's production
                                                               capacity compared with 1983. These projects may
— total annual investment by the undertaking.
                                                               take one of two forms:
                       Article 16                              — preparation of sites for production,
Within the deadline which the Commission lays                  — structures, machines and buildings directly
down, undertakings applying for the aid provided for               relating to the production of brown coal and peat
by Article 14 in respect of a project under the                    in bulk or briquetted.
programme referred to in Article 15 shall send the
Commission a file including:                                                          • Article 19
— a detailed description of the project and its likely
    impact, particularly as regards increases in the           1.    The aid referred to in Article 14 shall not
    undertaking's production in the long-term;                 exceed 25 % of eligible investment expenditure over
                                                               the period for which this Regulation applies.
— the position which the project occupies in the
    programme referred to in Article 15;                       2.     Several formal Community aids may be
                                                               combined towards the investment up to a limit of
— the time-scale for carrying out the project;                 30 % of the eligible investment expenditure.
— the cost of the project          and   the   financing
    arrangements proposed;                                                              Article 20
— the timetable of annual investment expenditure;              1.     By 31 January of the year following the
                                                               expenditure for carrying out the supported project,
— details of any financial support received or                 the undertaking shall send the Commission all the
    expected from the Community or from the                    relevant supporting documents together with a
    Member States;                                             progress report on the project.
 ---pagebreak--- 30. 8. 83                          Official Journal of the European Communities                          No C 232/11
2.    Payment shall be made by the Commission once                                    Article 22
a year on the basis of the undertaking's spending on
the project over the preceding calendar year and              The aid provided for by this Regulation shall be
within the limits of the cumulative total set in Article      granted only within the limits of the appropriations
19 (2).                                                       entered in the General Budget of the European
                                                              Communities for this purpose.
3.    The undertaking may request the Commission
to pay it an advance of up to 90 % of the aid granted                                 Article 23
by the Commission.
                                                              The Commission, the Court of Auditors or persons
                                                              empowered by them shall have access to all infor-
4.    The Commission shall establish once a year on           mation on each investment or stock project for which
the basis of paragraph 3 the amount of aid still due to       a grant has been awarded. They may carry out on-
the undertaking, or to be reimbursed by the under-            the-spot checks or inspect documents in order to
taking should the advances provided for paragraph 2           follow progress with the project or stock movements
have exceeded the definitive total for the year.              and in order to ascertain how the Community grant is
                                                              being used.
5.    The undertaking shall compile and send to the
Commission a final technical and financial report on                                  Article 24
each project completed, within three months of
completion.                                                   The Commission shall report regularly to the Council
                                                              and the European Parliament on the application of
                                                              this Regulation.
                      SECTION rv
                                                                                      Article 25
              General and final provisions                    This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
                                                              1984.
                        Article 21
                                                              Sections I and III shall apply until 31 December 1988.
                                                              Section II shall apply until 31 December 1986.
The Community aid must not adversely affect the
conditions of competition in a manner incompatible            This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
with the principles of the ECSC and EEC Treaties.             directly applicable in all Member States.