97/376/ECSC: Commission Decision of 18 December 1996 authorizing the grant by the United Kingdom of aid to the coal industry (Only the English text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance)

• Articles: 5

Article 1

The United Kingdom Government is hereby authorized to take the following financial measures totalling £ 347 million in the 1997/98 financial year:

- a payment of £ 23 million for the British Coal Corporation or the public administration succeeding it to cover exceptional social-welfare benefits for workers who lose their jobs as a result of the restructuring, rationalization and modernization of the United Kingdom coal industry,

- a payment of £ 55 million for contributions to pension schemes for former workers of the British Coal Corporation and their dependants,

- a payment of £ 93 million for concessionary fuel entitlement to coal and smokeless fuel, or, in certain cases, cash-in-lieu for former British Coal Corporation workers and their dependants,

- a payment of up £ 67 million for compensation for industrial injury and damage to health for former workers of the British Coal Corporation and their dependants,

- a payment of £ 87 million to cover the environmental damage caused by mining activities before privatization,

- a payment of £ 22 million to cover the costs arising from the residual activities of the British Coal Corporation.

Article 2

The United Kingdom is authorized to grant for the 1996/97 financial year further aid not exceeding £ 24 million, in addition to the aid authorized by Decision 96/514/ECSC, to cover compensation for former workers of the British Coal Corporation for industrial injury and damage.

Article 3

The United Kingdom shall give notification by 30 September 1998 of the amount of aid actually paid in the 1997/98 financial year to the recipients referred to in Article 1 of this Decision and by 30 September 1997 of the amount of aid actually paid in the 1996/97 financial year to the recipients referred to in Article 2 of this Decision and shall report on any changes made compared with the amounts originally notified.

Article 4

The United Kingdom shall ensure that it is reimbursed for any overestimated expenditure or cancelled expenditure on any of the items covered by this Decision.

Article 5

This Decision is addressed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Done at Brussels, 18 December 1996.

For the Commission

Christos PAPOUTSIS

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ No L 329, 30. 12. 1993, p. 12.

(2) OJ No L 216, 27. 8. 1996, p. 6.

(3) OJ No L 220, 25. 8. 1994, p. 12.