25. 9. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 244/15 COMMISSION DECISION of 30 April 1996 on German aid to the coal industry for 1995 and 1996 (Only the German text is authentic) (96/560/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 letter of 5 October 1995, Germany notified the Commission, in accordance with Article 9 (1) of Deci- sion No 3632/93/ECSC, of the aid it intended to grant to the coal industry in 1995 and 1996; whereas, by letters of 6 December 1995, 18 December 1995 and 23 February 1996, Germany submitted the additional information requested by the Commission; Whereas, in accordance with Decision No 3632/93/ ECSC, the Commission gives its opinion on the following financial measures: — aid totalling DM 2708,5 million for 1995 and DM 2 539,2 million for 1996 for the sale of coal and coke to the Community steel industry together with a financial measure to assist the undertaking Saarberg- werke AG totalling DM 118,4 million for 1995 and DM 118,4 million for 1996 in the context of a debt- register claim to be charged to the public budgets, — aid totalling DM 7 500 million for payments to the German coal industry in 1996 under the Fifth Electri- city-from-Coal Law of 12 December 1995 (%) (‘fiinftes Verstromungsgesetz), — aid totalling DM 97 million for 1996 to enable mining undertakings to maintain their underground labour force (‘Bergmannsprimic), () OJ No L 329, 30. 12. 1993, p. 12. () Bundesgesetzblatt (German Law Gazette), 16. 12. 1995, p. 1638. — aid totalling DM 200 million for 1996 for the under- takings Ruhrkohle AG, Saarbergwerke AG, Gewerk- schaft Auguste Victoria, Sophia Jacoba GmbH and Preussag to cover exceptional commitments; Whereas the financial measures proposed by the Federal Government for the coal industry comply with the provi- sions of Article 1 (1) of Decision No 3632/93/ECSC; whereas, therefore, the Commission, in accordance with Article 9 (4), is required to check whether those measures conform to the general objectives and criteria defined in Atticle 2 and the specific criteria defined in Articles 3 and 4 of the Decision; whereas, in accordance with Article 9 (6) of the Decision, the Commission has to decide whether the measures are compatible with the moderniza- tion, rationalization and restructuring plan which the Commission approved by Decision 94/1070/ECSC (*); II Whereas the financial measures proposed by Germany for the coal industry pursuant to Article 3 of Decision No 3632/93/ECSC are limited from 1996 onwards to aid for coking coal (‘Kokskoblenbeihilfé), aid for coal for power stations (‘Beihilfe fiir die Verstromungskoblé) and aid to maintain an underground labour force in deep mines (‘Bergmannspramie'); Whereas the aid for coking coal will be granted, as explained in the letter of 5 October 1995, as part of a three-year ceiling for the period 1995 to 1997 totalling DM 8 065 million, of which DM 5010 million is to be provided by the Federal Government and DM 2700 million by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia; whereas the Federal Government’s contribution is to be reduced from DM 1 760 million for the 1995 financial year to DM 1 650 million for the 1996 financial year and then to DM 1 600 -million for the 1997 financial year; whereas the contribution from the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia is () OJ No L 385, 31. 12. 1994, p. 18.