No L 216/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 8. 96 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 20 March 1996 authorizing the grant by the United Kingdom of aid to the coal industry (Only the English text is authentic) (96/514/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 (), Whereas: In a letter dated 7 November 1995 the United Kingdom notified the Commission, pursuant to Article 9 (1) of Decision No 3632/93/ECSC, of the aid which it intends to grant to the coal industry in the 1996/97 financial year. In a letter dated 25 January 1996 the United Kingdom also sent the additional information requested by the Commission. In accordance with Decision No 3632/93/ECSC, the Commission must give a ruling on the following financial measures notified for the 1996/97 financial year: — a payment of £ 37 million for the exceptional social- welfare benefits made necessary by the restructuring process, () OJ No L 329, 30. 12. 1993, p. 12. — a payment of £ 115 million for contributions to pension schemes, — a payment of £ 90 million for concessionary supplies of coal, smokeless fuel or, in some cases, payment in kind for former workers of the British Coal Corpora- tion and their dependants, which basically amounts to reauthorizing a sum initially covered by the provision of £ 2000 million authorized by Commission Deci- sion 90/634/ECSC (%), which lapsed after the privatiza- tion of the enterprise, — a payment of £ 35 million for compensation for industrial injury and damage to health, — a payment of £ 95 million to cover the environmental damage caused by mining activities before privatiza- tion, — a payment of £ 6 million to cover the costs arising from residual activities prior to dissolution of the British Coal Corporation following privatization. The financial measures which the United Kingdom intends to take in respect of the coal industry fall within the scope of Article 1 (1) of Decision No 3632/93/ECSC. The Commission must therefore give a ruling pursuant to Article 9 (4) of the Decision on whether they comply with the objectives and criteria set out in the Decision and are compatible with the proper functioning of the common market. () OJ No L 346, 11. 12. 1990, p. 22.