16. 4. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 94/17 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 29 November 1995 on aid to be granted by Austria to Voest-Alpine Erzberg Gesellschaft mbH (Only the German text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (96/269/ECSC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, and in particular the first and second paragraphs of Article 95 thereof, After consulting the Consultative Committee and with the unanimous assent of the Council, Whereas: I The Voest-Alpine Erzberg Gesellschaft mbH (hereinafter referred to as VAEG) is held by OIA Bergbauholding Aktiengesellschaft, which belongs to the wholly State- owned Osterreichische Industrieholding Aktiengesell- schaft. VAEG is involved in the mining of ore of low iron density (32 % Fe). The open pit mine consists of 23 layers approximately 24 metres in height and 860 metres in length. Underground mining accounts for only a small portion of the total production. The history of mining activities in the area dates back to the third century. The region has experienced a sharp decline in mining activities and is now being opened up to tourism. The iron ore mine is to be closed. Safety and environmental measures are to be taken to facilitate the setting-up of tourist facilities. In January 1995 Austria notified the Commission that it intended to grant aid to VAEG. It provided further infor- mation in a number of communications between March and September 1995. II VAEG on the one hand and Voest-Alpine Stahl Linz GmbH and Voest-Alpine Stahl Donawitz GmbH on the other hand signed a contract on 30 April 1993 concer- ning the annual supply of 1 to 1,3 million tonnes of iron ore containing 32 % Fe per tonne in the period 1994 to 1998. The price is negotiated annually. The buyers also obtain iron ore from South Africa and the Ukraine and the price they have to pay for this iron ore is taken as the guideline for determining the price of the Austrian iron ore. The price negotiated with VAEG is equal to, or higher than the price paid for imported ore. Both steel companies are going to be privatized in the near future. For 1995 the price per tonne of ore was set at OS 139, giving VAEG revenues of OS 180,7 million for 1,3 million tonnes of ore. The costs of producing this quan- tity are, however, OS 174 per tonne, i.e. OS 226,2 million in total. The difference between revenues and costs is to be covered by State aid. It is expected that revenues will in the longer term remain below costs, and Austria has therefore porposed a degressive maximum amount of production aid to make up this difference. Actual payments of this type of aid may, however, be lower if the gap between costs and revenues so allows. VAEG is pursuing its mine-closure operations, which started in the 1980s. The following table gives an over- view of the cuts in output and in the workforce up to 1994,