CELEX: 31976D0166
Language: en
Date: 1975-12-18 00:00:00
Title: 76/166/ECSC: Commission Decision of 18 December 1975 amending Commission Decision 71/293/ECSC of 22 July 1971 on the authorization of special Deutsche Bundesbahn tariffs in favour of coal and steel producers in the Saar

No L 29/ 14                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                  4 . 2 . 76
                                                                 II
                                           (Acts whose publication is not ob/i»cito>y)
                                                    COMMISSION
                                                  COMMISSION DECISION
                                                      of 18 December 1975
                amending Commission Decision 71 /293/ ECSC of 22 July 1971 on the authoriza­
                tion of special Deutsche Bundesbahn tariffs in favour of coal and steel
                                                      producers in the Saar
                                                (Oniy the German text is authentic )
                                                          (76/ 166/ ECSC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN                                            tariffs approved in Article 1 to the relevant frontier
COMMUNITIES,                                                              points, shall be applied during the same periods at
                                                                          corresponding rates ;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and in particular
Articles 2 to 5 and 70 thereof,
                                                                      Whereas, in discussions with the Commission on 1
                                                                      October and 7 November 1975 and by verbal note of
                                                                      2 December 1975 from its Permanent Representative,
                                I                                     the German Government requested that the five-stage
                                                                      reduction of special rates provided for in the above­
Whereas the Commission , in its Decision 71 / 293 /                   mentioned Commission Decision should net begin
ECSC of 22 July 1971 ('), approved the application by                 until 1 January 1978 , in view of the effects of the
the Deutsche Bundesbahn of special tariff Nos 188 ,                   economic crisis, which are particularly grave in the
 196, 197 , 263 , 270 , 273 and tariff No 9133 in favour              Saar ; whereas it also proposes using the intermediate
of coal and steel producers in the Saar for a period of               period of two years for considering how to achieve for
nine years up to 31 December 1979, on condition :                     the Saar permanent and more effective aid in parti­
                                                                      cular to contribute to achievement of the aims of
— that by 31 December 1975 the percentage reduc­                      Article 2 of the ECSC Treaty.
     tion on existing tariffs normally applicable is not
     greater than that represented by the special tariffs
     authorized by Decision 69/238/ECSC of 9 July
     1969 (2 ),                                                       Whereas in support of its request the German Govern­
                                                                      ment points out that :
— that subsequently the percentage reductions shall
     be decreased by at least 20 % on 1 January each
     year from 1976 to 1979 and completely abolished                  — despite the very high investments between 1968
     by i January 1980,                                                    and 1975 in the restructuring of the Saar's
— that the Deutsche Bundesbahn special tariffs Nos                         industry, particularly with a view to the creation of
     207, 208 , 209 , 280, 281 and the special rates of                    new industries outside the coal and steel sector,
     tariff No 1231 (now 5092) extending the special                       the coal and steel industry continues to play an
                                                                           important role in the Saar's economy. It is there­
(') OJ No L 179 , 9 . 8 . 1971 , p. 33 .                                   fore necessary to maintain the competitivity of this
(2) OJ No L 192, 5 . 8 . 1969 , p . 1 .                                    industry.
 ---pagebreak--- 4 . 2 . 76                         Official Journal of the European Communities                         No L 29/ 15
— in the long run it will be possible to eliminate the       tion and adjustment ; whereas this aid should not
     competitive disadvantages of the Saar coal and          however be regarded as permanent compensation to
     steel industry only by building a waterway connec­      the Saar's coal and steel industry, to be continued as
     tion, such as exists in all other regions with a        long as the disadvantages arising from the shortcom­
     similar economic structu'e . The Government there­      ings of the waterway infrastructure remained
     fore decided on 30 May 1973 to canalize the Saar        unchanged ;
     up to its confluence with the Moselle. The requi­
     site financial decisions have been taken and the
                                                             Whereas the Commission accordingly approved the
     necessary works have begun . The central authori­       application of the DB special tariffs in favour of coal
     ties have provided funds for 1976-77, but the           and steel producers in the Saar for a period of nine
     effects of the current economic situation on the
                                                             years, with a gradual reduction of the special rates
     Government's finances make it necessary to              during the last four years ; whereas it took this deci­
     extend the timetable for the work ;                     sion on the basis of the economic situation in 1971
— it would however be pointless to build the canal if        and the then foreseeable development of the indus­
     in the meantime the competitivity of the Saar's         tries in question ;
     coal and steel industry were further reduced by the
     abolition of the Deutsche Bundesbahn 's special         Whereas the Saar's coal and steel industry has, up to
     tariffs,                                                 1975, made considerable investment with a view to
                                                             the modernization of its production and processing
— because of the application of the special tariffs the       facilities ;
     Saar's coal and steel industry was able to maintain
     an adequate share of total German production
     until 1974 . It was therefore able to invest at the     Whereas, because of the fall in production and sales
     same rate as other German mining regions and            in 1975 it has not yet been possible to proceed with
     thereby expand and modernize its production and          the investments planned for 1976 ; whereas a large
     processing facilities and thus maintain jobs,            proportion of these cannot be made as planned ;
— the Saar's coal and steel industry has been unable         Whereas the current restructuring and adjustment
     to make the subsequent investments for 1976/77
                                                              programmes are being delayed for these reasons ;
     in view of the economic difficulties caused by a
                                                             whereas the results foreseeable and anticipated at the
     drastic fall in production and sales. The restruc­       time of the 1971 Commission Decision will not be
     turing measures launched on the basis of the            achieved in 1976 ;
     Commission Decision of 1971 have therefore been
     suspended for the foreseeable future,
                                                             Whereas if in addition to this delaying of investment
— it has become difficult to solve the continuing             the aid granted by the Deutsche Bundesbahn in the
     structural problems because of the current               form of freight concessions is scaled down after 1
     economic situation , especially as this has affected ,  January 1976, the position of the Saar's coal and steel
     the Saar's coal and steel industry to an extent          industry will be made still more difficult, and it will
     greater than the average in the Federal Republic,        not be able to make an adequate adjustment within
     because of the Saar's geographical position ;            the period prescribed ; whereas in these circumstances
                                                              it appears justified to postpone for two years the start
                                                              of the gradual scaling down of freight concessions ;
                                                             whereas it has however not been established that the
                                                             development of the Saars's coal and steel industry
                                                             within the framework of the general development of
                                                              the Community coal and steel market requires a
Whereas the Commission stated in its 1971 Decision           corresponding extension of the overall period during
that the unfavourable competitive position of the            which the tariff aid is to be granted,
Saar's coal and steel producers was not a result of
natural conditions of location but could largely be
attributed to action by the public authorities, mainly
in the field of transport infrastructure ; whereas this
                                                              HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION :
situation required a restructuring of the industry and
an adjustment of production and sales ; whereas this
required relatively long periods of time and the taking
of measures whose effects would be felt only after                                    Article 1
several years ;
                                                             The Commission Decision of 22 July 1971 autho­
Whereas the Commission took the view that aid in              rizing the application of the Deutsche Bundesbahn
the form of special tariffs could ease this reorganiza­       special tariff Nos 188 , 196, 197, 263 , 270 , 273 and
 ---pagebreak--- No L 29 / 16                       Official Journal of the European Communities                            4 . 2 . 76
tariff No 9133 in favour of coal and steel producers in                              Article 2
the Saar is amended as follows :
                                                             This Decision is addressed to the Federal Republic of
1 . In Article 1 ( 1 ) '31 December 1975' is replaced by     Germany.
    ' 31 December 1977'.
2. Article 1 (2) shall read as follows :                      Done at Brussels , 18 December 1975 .
    ' During a further period of two years, on condition
                                                                                        For the Commission
    that the said reductions shall be decreased by at
    least one-third on 1 January 1978 , by at least two­                          Carlo SCARASCIA MUGNOZZA
    thirds on 1 January 1979 and completely abolished
    by 1 January 1980 .'                                                                   Vice-President