Brussels, 02/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - The employers and trade union representatives of the German coal sector consider that - according to press information coming from Essen - the European Commission and German authorities should be able to reach a compromise in the case of aid to the coal industry. The volume of the aid is not under discussion, but the Commission accuses Germany of not devoting a sufficient share to the closure of mines. The regional government of Rheinland North-Westphalia has drawn up a compromise it intends to discuss with the European Commissioner for energy, Ms. de Palacio. Germany considers that it cannot speed-up the timetable of mine closures that it has already drawn up but could agree to commitments for a later period.
The difference concerns the fact that barely a quarter of aid approved for this year would be devoted to mine closures, that is to say, 1.1 billion euro of a total of 4.2 billion, the remainder representing operating aid for mines that remain in activity. The Commission is demanding an increase in this percentage and commitments concerning aid in 2001 (3.7 billion euro) and 2003 (3.4 billion). The Commission is threatening to take the case to the Court of Justice should a satisfactory compromise not be found.