CELEX: 31976D0213
Language: en
Date: 1975-12-17 00:00:00
Title: 76/213/ECSC: Commission Decision of 17 December 1975 approving aids to be granted by the Kingdom of Belgium for the benefit of undertakings in the coal industry in respect of 1975

No L 46/ 16                                Official Journal of the European Communities                              21 . 2 . 76
                                                     COMMISSION DECISION
                                                        of 17 December 1975
               approving aids to be granted by the Kingdom of Belgium for the benefit of undertakings
                                               in the coal industry in respect of 1975
                                            (Only the French and Dutch texts are authentic)
                                                            (76/213/ESCS)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN                                         at a reduced rate of interest under Article 54 of the
COMMUNITIES ,                                                         ECSC Treaty;
                                                                      Whereas the Belgian Government proposes to make
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                 payments of the order of Bfrs 4 054-4 million to
Coal and Steel Community, and in particular Articles                  cover operating losses, of which Bfrs 1 183-2 million
2, 3 , 4 and 5 thereof,                                                is for the Campine coalfield and Bfrs 2 871-2 million
                                                                       is for the Sud coalfields, thereby reducing aids to
                                                                       cover operating losses of 9 % over 1974 ; whereas
Having regard to Commission Decision 3 /71 /ECSC of                    1975 has been characterized by an improvement in
22 December 1970 on Community rules for                                efficiency over 1974 and thus by a reduction in aids
interventions by Member States for the benefit of the                 — especially in the Campine field; whereas in this
coal industry ( 1 ),                                                  coalfield, the production of coking coal needs to be
                                                                      maintained in order to assure supplies to the iron and
                                                                      steel industry ; whereas the proposed aid can
Having regard to Decision 73/287/ECSC of 25 July                      therefore be considered to come within Article 9 ( 1 )
1973 on coking coal and coke (2), and in particular                   (2) of Decision 3 /71 /ECSC ; whereas furthermore
Article 9(1 ) thereof,                                                since there has only been an slight improvement in
                                                                      the economic and social conditions in the Sud
                                                                      coalfield between 1974 and 1975 , and it is still
Having consulted the Council,                                         necessary to ensure that pit closures proceed slowly
                                                                      so as ensure the re-employment of redundant miners,
                                                                      the aid can be considered to come within Article 9
Whereas the Belgian Government has informed the                       ( 1 ) ( 1 ) of Decision 3/71 /ECSC ;
Commission, pursuant to Article 2 of Decision
3 /71/ECSC, of the financial measures which it                        Whereas furthermore it is important that aids to
proposes to implement directly or indirectly for the                   cover operating losses do not exceed those operating
benefit of the coal industry for 1975 ; whereas among                 losses that are foreseeable ; whereas they are therefore
these measures, the aids listed below should be                       in accordance with Article 9 (2) of Decision
authorized pursuant to the aforementioned Decision;                    3 /71 /ECSC ;
                                                                       Whereas the aids proposed by the Belgian Govern­
Whereas the Belgian Government proposes to grant                       ment for 1975 are not such as to impair the proper
in 1975 aids amounting to Bfrs 260-8 million towards                   functioning of the common market ;
the financing of investments ; whereas this amount
should permit the financing of various schemes in the                  Whereas these conclusions are based on the following
                                                                      findings :
coal production and processing sector ; whereas this
measure is in accordance with Article 7 (2) of                         — no adverse effect in trade in coal between Belgium
Decision 3/71 /ECSC ;                                                        and the other Member States is expected for
                                                                             1975 ;
Whereas the information given to the Commission                       — in the formation of prices for Belgian coal, no
shows that the undertakings in receipt of an aid for                         price adjustments are expected to have to be
these investment projects will not benefit from loans                        made in 1975 to equal those of cheaper coal
                                                                             produced in the Community ;
                                                                      — industrial consumers of coal will , receive no
0 ) OJ No L 3 , 5 . 1 . 1971 , p . 7.                                       indirect aid in 1975 as a result of the prices for
 (2) OJ No L 259 , 15 . 9 . 1973 , p . 36.                                  Belgian coking coal and boiler coal ;
 ---pagebreak---  21 . 2. 76                       Official Journal of the European Communities                         No L 46/ 17
— the closure of two unprofitable pits will lead to         This amount shall include Bfrs 260-8 million to
     rationalization   and    the   concentration      of   finance investment projects and Bfrs 4 054-4 million
      production on pits where productivity is highest;     to cover operating losses.
Whereas it may therefore be concluded that the aids
proposed by the Belgian Government for 1975 will                                   Article 2
not impair the proper functioning of the common
market;                                                      The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium shall
                                                             notify the Commission by 30 April 1976 of details of
Whereas this also applies if account is taken of the         the aids granted pursuant to this Decision, in
aids granted to the coal mines pursuant to Decision          particular as regards the amounts paid and the
73/287/ECSC ;                                                manner in which they are apportioned.
Whereas, pursuant to Article 11 ( 1 ) of Decision
3/71 /ECSC, the Commission must satisfy itself that                                Article 3
the approved aids are used for the purposes set out in
Articles 7 and 9 of that Decision ; whereas in order to
do so the Commission must be informed in particular          This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of
of the amount of these aids and of the manner in             Belgium.
which they are apportioned,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION :
                                                             Done at Brussels, 17 December 1975 .
                        Article 1
                                                                                            For the Commission
The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium is                                                  Henri SIMONET
hereby authorized to grant to the Belgian coal
industry aids for 1975 totalling Bfrs 4 315-2 million.                                         Vice-President