Press and Information Division
PRESS RELEASE No 02/2001
31 January 2001
Judgment of the Court of First Instance in Case T-156/98
RJB Mining plc v Commission
THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE ANNULS THE COMMISSION'S 1998 DECISION APPROVING THE MERGER OF THREE UNDERTAKINGS IN THE GERMAN COAL-MINING INDUSTRY
("KOHLEKOMPROMIß")
The Commission should have assessed whether the financial and commercial power of the merged company had been strengthened by State aid.
The merger is part of an agreement ("Kohlekompromiß") between those three companies, the German Government, the Land of North-Rhine Westphalia, the Saarland and the German mining and power station workers' union.
It is intended to allow the adjustment of the German coal industry to a competitive environment by 2005 upon conditions that are socially acceptable for the 36 000 persons employed in the coal industry. Around 10 of the 17 pits still open when the agreement was concluded are to be retained.
The Kohlekompromiß provides inter alia for the grant by the German Government of State aid for the closure of pits, totalling DEM 2.5 billion.
RJB Mining plc, established in the United Kingdom, is a privately-owned coal mining company which has taken over the principal mining operations of British Coal.
In 1998 RJB Mining complained to the Commission about the various items of State aid to which the merger gave rise.
The Commission authorised the merger on 29 July 1998.
RJB Mining asked the Court of First Instance to annul that decision.
The Court observed that an assessment of a merger transaction must take account of the financial consequences of the grant of State aid to the merging companies.
The Court therefore examined whether the Commission's assessment actually took into accountall the elements which might constitute State aid and in particular the conditions upon which SBW was purchased by RAG for one German mark (DEM).
The Court found that although the Commission considered that the sale of SBW upon those conditions might well constitute unnotified State aid to the coal-mining industry and that the value of that aid might be estimated at around DEM 1 billion, it had not assessed the extent to which the sale price strengthened the financial and commercial power of RAG.
In order to comply with the ECSC Treaty, the Commission had to assess the merger as a whole. It therefore had to assess whether the financial and commercial power of the merged company had been strengthened by the State aid represented by the conditions upon which RAG acquired SBW.
The Court therefore annulled the Commission's decision.
*A hearing will take place on 14 February 2001 in the action brought by RJB Mining plc against the Commission in respect of the aid granted by the German authorities to the coal industry in 1998 (Case T-12/99).
Note: Within two months of notification of a judgment of the Court of First Instance, a party may appeal against that judgment to the Court of Justice. The appeal is limited to questions of law.
This press release is an unofficial document for media use
which does not bind the Court of Justice.
Languages available: French, German and English
The judgment will be published in all the official languages of the European Communities.
For the full text of the judgment, consult our Internet page www.curia.eu.int at around 3 pm today.
For further information, please contact Fionnuala Connolly
Tel: (00352) 4303 3355; Fax: (00352) 4303 2731