13.7.1999 Official Journal of the European Communities L177/27 COMMISSION DECISION of 4 May 1999 on the granting by Spain of aid to the coal industry in 1999 (notified under document number C(1999) 1379) (Only the Spanish text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (1999/451/ECSC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, Having regard to Commission Decision No 3632/93/ECSC of 28 December 1993 establishing Community rules for State aid to the coal industry ('), and in particular Articles 2(1) and 9 thereof, Whereas: By letters of 16 October 1998, 6 January 1999, 19 January 1999 and 16 April 1999, Spain notified the Commission, pursuant to Article 9(1) of Decision No 3632/93/ECSC, of the financial support it intended to grant to the coal industry in 1999. Spain also notified the Commission, by letter of 25 September 1998, of the production costs per under- taking for 1997. By letter of 9 March 1999, Spain provided the informa- tion requested in the Commission's letter of 15 January 1999 concerning its proposals for the implementation in 1999 of the 1999-2002 modernisation, rationalisa- tion, restructuring and activity-reduction plan for the coal industry. By letter of 16 April 1999 Spain notified the Commis- sion, pursuant to Article 9(2) of Decision No 3632/93/ ECSC, of the amount of aid actually paid to the coal industry during the coal production year 1998. Pursuant to Decision No 3632/93/ECSC, the Commis- sion must rule on the following financial measures relating to 1999: (a) aid of ESP 121 030 million (EUR 727 404 949,94) to cover operating losses by coal undertakings; (b) aid of ESP 44 141 million (EUR 265 292 753) to cover exceptional welfare aid paid to workers who lose their jobs as a result of the measures to modern- ise, rationalise, restructure and reduce the activity of the coal industry; () O] L 329, 30.12.1993, p. 12. (c) aid of ESP 13 079 million (EUR 78 606 373,13) to cover the technical costs of closing down mining installations as a result of the measures to modern- ise, rationalise, restructure and reduce the activity of the coal industry. The financial measures proposed by Spain for the coal industry fall within the provisions of Article 1 of Decision No 3632/93/ECSC. The Commission must therefore take a decision on such measures in accord- ance with Article 9(4) of the Decision. The Commis- sion's assessment will depend on the compliance of the measures with the general criteria and objectives laid down in Article 2 and the specific criteria established by Articles 3 and 4 of the Decision, and on their compati- bility with the proper functioning of the common market. Additionally, in accordance with Article 9(6) of the Decision, the Commission when conducting its assessment must check whether the measures conform with the modernisation, rationalisation, restructuring and activity-reduction plan which the Commission approved in its Decision 98/637[ECSC (). II By Decision 98/637/ECSC the Commission gave an opinion as to the conformity of the 1998-2002 phase of the plan notified by Spain for the modernisation, ratio- nalisation, restructuring and activity reduction of the coal industry with the general and specific objectives of Decision No 3632/93/ECSC. The Commission has verified that the measures taken to modernise, rationalise, restructure and reduce activity in the coal industry during 1998, and those notified for 1999, correspond to the plans which the Commission had approved. Spain's coal production of 1 625 000 tonnes in 1998 is 6,7 % lower than that shown in the plans for 1998 and 6,2 % lower than that which obtained in 1997. The production figure notified by Spain for 1999 is 16 300 000 tonnes, lower by 6,8 % and 3,3 % than that shown in the plans for 1998 and 1999 respectively. () OJ L 303, 13.11.1998, p. 57.