EUR-Lex - 31988D0293 - EN

EUR-Lex - 31988D0293 - EN Avis juridique important | 88/293/ECSC: Commission Decision of 20 April 1988 approving aids from the United Kingdom for the coal- mining industry during the 1986/87 financial year (Only the English text is authentic) Official Journal L 125 , 19/05/1988 P. 0038 - 0039

COMMISSION DECISION of 20 April 1988 approving aids from the United Kingdom for the coal-mining industry during the 1986/87 financial year (Only the English text is authentic) (88/293/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 528/76/ECSC of 25 February 1976 regarding the Community system of measures taken by the Member States to assist the coal-mining industry (1), Having consulted the Council, I Whereas the United Kingdom Government has informed the Commission, pursuant to Article 2 of Decision No 528/76/ECSC, of the financial measures which it intends to implement directly or indirectly for the benefit of the coal industry during the 1986/87 financial year; whereas, of these measures, the following may be approved pursuant to that Decision: 1.2 // // (million £) // - aid for the recruitment of skilled workers // 18,0 // - aid to cover National Coal Board (NCB) losses on mining // 290,2; Whereas the aid for attracting and keeping skilled workers (£ 18,0 million) is intended to offset half the NCB's costs arising from rationalization and the transfer of production to their best pits; whereas this reults in outgoing on removals, transport, etc.; whereas the aid is compatible which Article 8 of Decision No 528/76/ECSC; Whereas the planned aid to cover losses on mining (£ 290,2 million) will cover only part of the losses sustained by NCB pits in 1986/87; whereas the aid is given to avoid serious economic and social problems in those coalfields where there are not yet adequate re-employment opportunities for miners made redundant as a result of pit closures; whereas the aid is therefore compatible with Article 12 of Decision No 528/76/ECSC; II Whereas the sum of all aids to support current production by the British coal industry is 460 000 000 ECU, or 4,40 ECU per tonne, for 1986/87; whereas this is the lowest of all Community Member States; Whereas the following points must be made about the compatibility of the proposed aid with the proper functioning of the common market:

• there are unlikely to be supply difficulties on the British coal market in 1986/87,
• British coal exports to the other Community countries will increase slightly in 1986 compared with 1985,
• hardly any price alignment agreements were entered into for British coal in 1986,
• industrial consumers of coal will not receive indirect aids in 1986/87 as a result of the prices of British coking coal and steam coal,
• the closure of several pits has resulted in rationalization and concentration of production on pits where productivity is highest; Whereas it can therefore be stated that the aids for the British coal industry for current production in the 1986/87 financial year are compatible with the proper functioning of the common market;