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Order Eco/2771/2003, 24 September, On Aid To Cover Exceptional Charges Related To Restructuring And Rationalization Of The Activity Of The Coal Mining Companies Plans.

Original Language Title: ORDEN ECO/2771/2003, de 24 de septiembre, sobre ayudas destinadas a cubrir cargas excepcionales vinculadas a planes de reestructuración y racionalización de la actividad de las empresas mineras del carbón.

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TEXT

State aid to the coal industry was granted on the basis of the provisions laid down in Decision 3632/93/ECSC of 28 December 2002, which expired on 23 July 2002. That scheme has been replaced by the one laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 1407/2002 of 23 July 2002 on State aid to the coal industry which, however, in Article 14.2 of the Regulation, provided for aid for the year 2002 they may be subject, upon request of the Member States, to the rules and principles laid down in Decision 3632 /93/ECSC.

Extended the temporary scope of application of the said Decision until 31 December 2002, in the same way extended the application of the Royal Decree 2020/1997 of 26 December, for which it was transposed into law internal legal content.

The application since the first of January 2003 of Council Regulation (EC) 1407/2002 of 23 July 2002 on State aid to the coal industry, which is directly applicable in the Member States without the need for internal transposition, however, requires the adoption of a rule in which the principles of advertising and objectivity are guaranteed and the regulatory bases for the granting of aid as set out in the text Recast of the General Budget Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1091/1988 of 23 The Court of State held that the Court of State held that the Court of State held that the Court of State held that the Court of

This Order is dictated by the exclusive competence of the State, in the field of labour law and the basis and coordination of the general planning of economic activity under Article 149.1.7.a and 13.a of the Constitution, respectively, as well as in accordance with the provisions of art. 81.6 of the General Budget Law.

In its virtue, I have:

CHAPTER I

Aid to cover exceptional charges for restructuring and rationalisation plans

First. Purpose and types of aid.-The plans for restructuring and rationalisation of the activities of the coal mining companies listed in the Annex to this Order may be associated with some or some of the following aid, provided for in the Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) 1407/2002 of 23 July 2002 on State aid to the coal industry:

(a) Aid for labour costs, designed to finance the reduction of the workforce of coal mining companies through early retirement and, where appropriate, low incentives.

These aids will be made by subrogation by the Institute for the Restructuring of Coal Mining and Alternative Development of the Mining Comarcas (hereinafter the Institute), in the indemnification obligations. acquired by the coal mining company with its employees, as a result of the termination of employment contracts, in accordance with the procedure and subject to the requirements and limits laid down in Chapter II of this Order.

(b) Aid to compensate for the costs arising from the closure of production units of coal mining companies, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter III of this Order.

The closure of production units referred to in this type of aid may be carried out by means of one of the following:

1) The presentation of a restructuring and rationalisation plan covering the total closure of the production unit under aid, in a single annual exercise.

2) The presentation of a restructuring and rationalisation plan covering the total closure of the production unit under aid, in more than one financial year.

Second. Temporary scope.-Aid for labour costs and to compensate for the costs arising from the closure of production units resulting from restructuring and rationalisation plans may be granted from the budgets of each financial year until 31 December 2005, without prejudice to the fact that the aid referred to in the first place can be maintained for each worker in the necessary budgetary years until he reaches the ordinary retirement age.

Third. Beneficiaries. -1. They may be eligible for aid for labour costs:

(a) Companies which have or have had aid to cover losses of current production in the terms referred to in Articles 3 and 4 of Decision 3632/93 ECSC of 28 December, or in Articles 4 and 5 of the Council Regulation (EC) No 1407/2002 of 23 July 2002 on State aid to the coal industry. Such aid shall not apply to public undertakings.

b) The brown lignite mining companies located in the municipalities of As Pontes and Meirama. In order to be able to have access to these aids, workers must be attached to the Special Scheme of Coal Mining of Social Security or have been awarded a reduction coefficient by the General Technical Assistance Subdirectorate. of Social Security, to the categories that may have access to the pre-retirements.

2. They may be eligible for aid to compensate for the costs resulting from the closure of production units, the mining undertakings referred to in point (a) (1) above, with the exception referred to in that paragraph.

Fourth. Financing.-The aid referred to in this Order shall be financed from the budget appropriations of the Institute, in force for each financial year, with the limit of budgetary availability, taking account of the In the case of the Commission, the Commission has taken the view that, in the light of the above, the Commission has taken the necessary steps to ensure that the aid granted by the Member State concerned is not Royal Decree No 1091/1988 of 23 September, subject to the conditions of (i) case, those granted on a multiannual basis, to the existence of adequate and sufficient credit for each financial year.

CHAPTER II

Labor cost aids

Fifth. Requirements. -1. Mining companies applying for labour cost support, in accordance with the procedure set out in this Order, shall meet the following requirements:

(a) Submit a restructuring and rationalisation plan, agreed with the representation of employees, by attaching a relationship of the workers to whom the aid is linked.

(b) Aid for low-level incentives may be requested only by those undertakings which have aid for the closure of production units, in accordance with the terms laid down in this Ministerial Order, in the same annual financial year.

2. Workers for whom labour cost aid is requested shall, on the other hand, meet the following requirements:

(a) Aid for low incentives.-The workers to whom the aid is linked must prove:

1) Contributions to the Special Regime of Coal Mining of Social Security for at least three years.

2) An age in the company in which they cause low, at least one year prior to the termination of the contract of employment.

(b) Pre-retirement aid.-The workers to whom the aid is linked, until they reach sixty-five years of age equivalent, with the application of the reducing coefficient corresponding to them, must prove:

1) Your condition of workers with indefinite contract in the applicant company.

2) Having fifty-two or more years of equivalent age, with the application of the reducing coefficient corresponding to them.

3) Antiquity in the company in which they cause a decline of at least three consecutive years, from the extinction of the employment relationship that gives rise to these aids. In this sense, when workers who, by means of mergers by absorption or by succession of undertakings in accordance with Article 44th of the recast text of the Staff Regulations, come from undertakings not listed in the Annex of

this Order will also have to bring together the three consecutive years of effective work in the applicant company for the fulfilment of the seniority requirement set out in this paragraph.

4) Workers who have opted for repositioning, under the Order of 18 February 1998 or of this Ministerial Order, without aid and which have been reestablished before the 12 months after their termination employment relationship, they will have to remain for at least one year in the company through which they access pre-retirement aid at the age of fifty-two years of age equivalent, having been met, in the company prior to that from the which have access to pre-retirement, all the requirements laid down in point (b) of this paragraph 2 Fifth of the Order, except age. These pre-retirement pensions shall not be taken into account for the purposes of the undertaking acquired by undertakings in respect of relocations.

5) Contributions to the Special Regime of Coal Mining of Social Security for at least eight years.

6) In the case of workers referred to in point (1) (b) of the third subparagraph of this Order, the fulfilment of the seniority requirements of the undertaking and of the eight years ' contribution shall be understood as referred to the system of registration of his company, as well as his permanence during those periods of time, in a job to which he has been awarded a reduction coefficient by the Subdirectorate General of Technical Legal Assistance of Security Social.

7) All workers must prove, by completing the 60 and five years of interest, the minimum period of contribution required for access to ordinary retirement in any of the security schemes Social. If the minimum period is to be amended, the worker who is already receiving the aid shall be guaranteed until he reaches the new minimum period required for his retirement.

Sixth. Exclusion of aid for labour costs.

1. Aid for low-level incentives-workers who qualify for pre-retirement, ordinary retirement or who have received compensation under any of the above schemes-will not be eligible for such aid. including this Order, without prejudice to the rights of workers to their undertaking.

2. Aid for early retirement.

(a) Workers who opt for or have opted for a low incentive under the Ministerial Order of 18 February 1998 or of this Order shall not be eligible for the duration of the period of validity of this Order.

(b) The workers who have been beneficiaries of the aid provided for in the orders of 31 October 1990, 6 July 1994 or 1 August 1996 have also been excluded from the exclusion of the aid workers. or have been incorporated in an undertaking other than the mining sector, with the understanding of that undertaking whose registration scheme is not the Special Scheme of Coal Mining of Social Security, and have been or are subsequently discharged in a company benefiting from the aid provided for in this Order, except in the case of the loss of its post for the reasons laid down in Articles fifty-first, fifty-second, point (c) of the Staff Regulations.

The exclusion provided for in the preceding paragraph will not apply to workers who have had temporary contracts from companies outside the coal mining sector, have caused their last fall in the same way as prior to 15 July 1997.

(c) Excluded from the Pre-retirement Plan, with the definitive loss of acquired rights, those workers who perform any work incompatible with the recognition and enjoyment of the benefit contributory unemployment or the pension system in force.

Seventh. Quantification of the aid. In the event of the payment of the aid for labour costs, the Institute will assume the compensation obligations of the undertakings as a result of the termination of the employment contracts, in accordance with the following conditions: quantification criteria:

a) Aid for low incentives.

1. In the case of aid for labour costs, compensation may be granted to workers whose contracts are terminated as a result of the restructuring of their undertaking and which are not integrated into the process of repositioning. (a) specific to other undertakings in the sector benefiting from the aid provided for in this Order, nor do they fulfil the conditions for access to pre-retirement plans.

2. The amount of aid shall be the amount of compensation agreed with the employees, provided that their average per worker and beneficiary does not exceed EUR 45,277,98 for 2003. For successive years this limit will be increased according to the CPI of the previous year.

The amount of the compensation referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be increased by EUR 21,000.00 in the case of first-degree silicotic workers, provided they prove this by certification issued by the competent official body within a period of not more than two years from the date on which it is causing a discharge in its undertaking.

3. Workers affected by the restructuring of firms and who are not entitled to pre-retirement may choose to relocate to other undertakings which receive the aid of this Order. In this case, they will receive the statutory compensation from your company and will be entitled to the unemployment benefit which corresponds to them according to the time listed, not being the aid.

However, if, before the end of a year since the termination of the contract of employment, the worker who has opted for the relocation has not relocated to another undertaking benefiting from the aid in the Annex to this Order, the company of origin or the worker, if it is not active, may ask the Institute for the aid described for the low incentives. In this case, the amount of aid shall be 55% of the amount per year applicable, as set out in the preceding paragraphs, provided that it has been met, at the time of the extinguishing of its employment relationship, with the referred to in point 2 (a) of Article 5 of this Order and, at the request of the undertaking, appear as relocatable in the motion for a resolution adopted by the Interministerial Committee referred to in the ninth point of this Order.

In the case provided for in the preceding paragraph, the labour authority, by way of a supplementary resolution of the employment regulation file, shall give recognition to the labour measures for low-level incentives to (a) which refers to the additional provision of this Order, including the benefit provided for in the additional decision of 29 June of Law 4/1990 of 29 June 1990, of the General Budget of the State for 1990, with effect from the date of Resolution of the employment regulation file, deducted from the period of benefits by (i) unemployment, the rate up to the date of the supplementary decision.

b) Pre-retirement aid.

1. Compensation for workers who are entitled to their employment contract as a result of a plan for the restructuring and rationalisation of undertakings and meeting the requirements for their employment will be the subject of labour cost aid. incorporation into the pre-retirement scheme, up to the age of sixty-five years of age.

2. These aids will guarantee the perception of 78% of the average monthly gross wage remuneration, considering the six months actually worked prior to the incorporation into pre-retirement with the pro-rata extraordinary. For these purposes, the months in which the work has been carried out shall be regarded as effectively worked, at least 19 days, including holidays and paid leave.

For the calculation of this guaranteed gross amount, the consideration of gross ordinary wage remuneration shall be those concepts and amounts that the worker has regularly received in the last 30 months in the development of their activity.

This calculation shall be excluded, in addition to the amounts of the extranalarial character set out in point 2 of Article 20 (2) of the recast of the Staff Regulations, overtime, night work and works at the end of the week or others that do not respond to the work developed in a usual or ordinary way, regardless of the denomination of the remunerative concept used, provided that their fertilizer is not customary, understanding that there is habituality where in the last thirty months of its activity it receives it by at least 50% of the months in which he/she can perceive it. The volumes and average amounts of these concepts shall not exceed each of them by more than 8% the average volumes and amounts of these same concepts in the 12 months preceding the period on which the valuation is carried out.

3. The amount of the guaranteed gross quantity shall be increased by the amount of EUR 216,36 per year, in the form of compensation for the waiver of the coal voucher.

4. The gross guaranteed quantity, excluding the amount corresponding to the coal voucher, shall in no case exceed the amount of the maximum basis for contingency contributions for accidents at work of the General System of Social Security in force on the date on which the employment relationship is extinguished.

Also, the gross guaranteed quantity may not be diverted, in any case, to the upside or the downside, by more than 8 percent of the average wage

of the twelve months prior to the period on which the valuation is performed.

For these purposes, the months will be computed with fifteen or more days worked, including holidays enjoyed and paid leave.

5. The gross guaranteed quantity at the time of incorporation into the pre-retirement plan shall be updated at the beginning of each calendar year, increasing it by the percentage resulting from the actual CPI in each year, having this cumulative increase. For these purposes, the compensation for the waiver of the coal voucher shall not be considered as a guaranteed gross quantity.

6. The determination of the gross quantity shall be the result of adding, on the one hand, the gross quantities corresponding to each worker for their contributory and assistance unemployment and, on the other, the supplement, which added to the above concepts, make up the 78 per cent gross guarantee described in this section. In any case, the worker is guaranteed 78%, provided that he is credited with the refusal of the unemployment benefits mentioned above.

7. In addition, for workers eligible for pre-retirement, the necessary contributions to social security are guaranteed, according to the standard bases in force each year, provided that the registration system of your company allows them, which will be effective by signing the relevant special conventions up to the age of ordinary retirement.

In the case of workers referred to in paragraph 1 (b) of the third subparagraph of this Order, and do not apply to the preceding paragraph, this guarantee shall be understood as referring to the basis of the contribution to the registration of your company, corresponding to the maximum basis that for the worker allows the current regulations on special agreements and updated each year with the expected CPI.

8. In the event of the death of the worker receiving the pension scheme, before reaching the retirement age, the spouse or, failing that, the children under the age of twenty-six and in any case up to that age, may receive, in the same terms and until the end of the retirement plan, the guaranteed quantities calculated on the date of death as a supplement to the benefits provided for by unemployment, which would have been paid to the pre-retiree produced the death.

9. Pre-retirement aid will be compatible with the aid for low incentives received under the orders of 1 August 1996 and earlier. If such aid is to be paid on the basis of the orders of 6 July 1994 and 1 August 1996, the worker must, in any event, prove sufficient contributions for the recognition of the contributory benefit. for unemployment for the statutory maximum period, and when pre-retirement is calculated, 10% of the gross guaranteed quantity referred to in the preceding paragraphs shall be deducted.

Eighth. Applications from undertakings wishing to benefit from the aid referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of this Order must be submitted before 10 September of the year preceding the request for the aid. President of the Institute, in any of the forms provided for in Article 338th, fourth, of Law 30/1992, of 26 November, of the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and of the Common Administrative Procedure.

Applications must be accompanied by a restructuring and rationalisation plan which must include the actions planned annually by the company, during the duration of this Order, in respect of production and employment.

This plan will have to provide, where appropriate, the new revenue necessary to adapt its technical and economic capacity and must be agreed between the company and the workers ' representatives.

Applications for this type of aid must be considered in any event, as a maximum period for the development of the actions giving entitlement to such aid, the time limits laid down in the second point of this Order.

Ninth. Resolution.

1. The applications submitted will be analysed by the Inter-Ministerial Commission set up by agreement of the Government Delegation for Economic Affairs of 22 February 1990, which will raise the proposal for a resolution to the President of the Institute.

This motion for a resolution, according to art. 5.3, of Royal Decree 2225/1993 of 17 December 1993, will be communicated to the undertaking receiving the aid, which must express its acceptance, the application being withdrawn if it does not do so within a period of 15 days, or have made claims.

2. In the case of aid for labour costs provided for in point (a) of point 1 of this Order, the President of the Institute shall decide within six months of the submission by the undertakings of the necessary documentation. for the approval of the aid, by means of a decision to be notified to the parties concerned. This resolution of being positive will contain the nominal relation of workers included in the processes of employment regulation.

3. Where the applications submitted involve both labour cost aids and compensation for the costs resulting from the closure of production units, they may be independently resolved.

10th. Justification and payment of the aid.-Once the aid has been approved by the President of the Institute, payment of the aid shall be carried out taking into account the following:

(a) Labor cost aids will be collected once the company has accredited to the Institute that it has met the requirements for the extinction of the industrial relations according to the procedures regulated in the Royal Decree Legislative 1/1995, of 24 March, and in Law 63/1997 of 26 December, approving and amending the recast of the Law of the Workers ' Statute, Articles 51, 52 (c) and 53, according to each case.

(b) Companies must also submit to the Institute, the documentation necessary for the calculation of the compensation, whether they are at one time (low incentive) or deferred in time (pre-retirements).

(c) The payment of the labour cost aid corresponding to the compensation referred to above shall be made by the Institute, once the necessary calculations and supporting documents are available, once it has been paid in the the case of the low incentives and monthly, in twelve pages corresponding to an annuity, in the pre-retirement plans, to each worker concerned.

CHAPTER III

Aid to compensate for costs resulting from the closure of production units

11th. Request.

1. Applications from undertakings wishing to benefit from the aid referred to in point (b) (1) and (2) of point 1 (b) of this Order, with an express indication of the date of the closure of the production unit, must be brought before the President of the Institute in any of the forms provided for in Article 38 (4) of Law No 30/1992 of 26 November 1992 on the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and the Administrative Procedure Common, within the following deadlines:

(a) At any time before 31 October 2005, those relating to the closure of production units to be carried out in a single annual period.

(b) In any event, prior to 31 October 2004, those referring to the closure of production units to be carried out in more than one financial year.

2. The request must contain:

(a) The quantification of the tonnes affected to that unit of production and its proportion to the supply contract of the mining company.

(b) The annual tonnes to be reduced, with this reduction in the case of closure in more than one year, a percentage of the total reduction, proportional to the number of years in which the closure of the unit of production.

The partial reductions, intended for the closure of a production unit, may be applied for and take effect only once for each annual year, the amount of the aid being calculated on the basis of the reduced tonnes in each year, applying to them the calculation procedure provided for in Article 12 of this Order.

(c) The expected date of the closure or dates for the reductions in the case of multi-annual closure.

(d) The agreement between the company and the employees ' representatives regarding the reduction and closure plan, provided that the plan involves aid for labour costs.

3. Applications shall be accompanied by a restructuring and rationalisation plan which shall include the actions planned annually by the undertaking, during the period of validity of this Order, as regards production and employment, as well as the forecast by way of breakdown by concepts of the costs incurred by that closure, in accordance with the criteria set out in the Annex to Regulation (EC) 1407/2002 of the

Council of 23 July 2002 on State aid to the coal industry. The plan should also include the actions planned by the company to ensure the closure of the production unit in the best conditions of safety and respect for the environment.

4. The reduction, for the purposes of the closure aid, shall be deemed to have been carried out on the day following the entry into force of the amended supply contract with the power-producing subjects, in which the reduction materialises. In the case of a total reduction in the business of the undertaking in which there is no modified contract, the closure shall be deemed to be carried out on the date specified in the application and in the plan provided for in the preceding paragraph.

12th. Calculation of the maximum aid.

1. Aid to compensate for the costs resulting from the closure of production units referred to in point 1 (b) (1) and (2) of this Order shall be calculated for the years 2003 to 2005, on the basis of tonnes reduced in respect of the previous supply contract in force, operating in any case as a maximum basis on which the reduction is made, the guaranteed supply of 1997, after deduction, where appropriate, of the reductions made in that year or in years later.

2. For the purpose of calculating the aid, account shall be taken of the weighted average value of the higher calorific value of the coal supplied in the three years preceding the reduction.

3. For the years 2003 to 2005, the value to be applied to the total of reduced coal mine, according to the procedure described above, is fixed at 13,00 europer thousand reduced terms.

4. Once the amount of aid that can correspond to each company has been obtained, the following adjustments will be made:

(a) Where the closure of the production unit leads to aid for labour costs, it shall be deducted from the amount calculated in accordance with the above paragraphs, EUR 3,000,00 for each pre-retired worker and EUR 1,000,00 for each low incentive. Where it is not possible to make these adjustments, since no aid has been received for the closure of production units, the adjustment will be made in the first aid for this concept which the company receives.

(b) In the event that there are low incentives, the planned adjustment will be added to an adjustment for 45 percent of the cost of the low incentives with the limits and requirements set forth in Chapter II of this Order.

(c) In the event that the closure of the production unit involves the total cessation of production capacity, the aid for this purpose shall be adjusted by subtracting from the amount, if applicable, the amount corresponding to the aid granted to the to cover losses of current production, received from the cessation of the extraction to provide the contracted quantity.

5. The aid thus calculated shall be considered as maximum and shall be limited to the quantification of the actual costs incurred by the undertaking as a result of the closure of the production unit, in accordance with the costs recognised in the Annex to the Regulation. (EC) No 1407/2002 of the Council of 23 July 2002 on State aid to the coal industry.

They shall have no consideration of closing costs, for these purposes, of the labour costs which have been the subject of the aid provided for in Chapter II of this Order, with the exception of the 45% adjustment provided for in this Order. Article 12 (4), point (b) of this Order.

13th. Resolution.

1. The applications submitted will be analysed by the Inter-Ministerial Commission set up by agreement of the Government Delegation for Economic Affairs of 22 February 1990, which will raise the proposal for a resolution to the President of the Institute.

This motion for a resolution, pursuant to Article 5.3 of Royal Decree 2225/1993 of 17 December 1993, will be communicated to the undertaking receiving the aid, which must express its acceptance, The request shall be withdrawn if the request is not made within 15 days, or no allegations have been made.

2. The President of the Institute shall, within six months of the submission by the undertakings of the documents necessary for the approval of the aid, decide on the aid applications referred to in point (b) of Article 1. (1) and (2) of this Order. In the case of aid requested under paragraph 2 above, a decision shall be issued which shall contain the maximum aid for each of the financial years in which the closure occurs.

This resolution will be notified to interested parties within the six-month time limit set at the beginning of this paragraph.

When applications submitted involve both labour cost aids and decreased production capacity, they can be resolved independently.

14th. Requirements for the recovery of aid. -For the recovery of aid to compensate for the costs arising from the closure of a production unit, undertakings must submit to the Institute:

1) Accreditation of compliance with legal requirements regarding the closure of production units. The accreditation of this requirement, in the case of the aid provided for in point (b) (2) of point 1 of this Order, shall only be carried out in the year in which the total closure of the production unit is actually carried out. aid object.

2) In cases where the closed production unit coincides in its entirety with a mining concession, written waiver of that mining concession before the competent authority, where the undertaking receiving the aid is a holder of that concession. If the recipient undertaking is a mere tenant, it must expressly waive the holding of the mining rights arising out of the lease agreement with the competent authority.

The accreditation of this requirement, in the case of the aid provided for in Article 1 (b) (2) of this Order, must be carried out in the financial year in which the total closure actually occurs. of the production unit under aid.

3) The accreditation to the Institute of the modified supply contract, or its waiver in the event of a total reduction, in which the decrease or cancellation of the supply is reflected. In the aid provided for in Article 1 (b) (2) of this Order, the supply contract, as amended in accordance with the approved restructuring and rationalisation plan, shall be submitted annually until the last financial year. in which the total closure of the production unit under aid is actually produced, in which the document for the cancellation of the aid must be submitted.

4) The accreditation of the current of its tax obligations and the Social Security in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph, point 7, of the Recast Text of the General Law Budget, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1091/1988, of 23 September, which may affect the amount of aid that could correspond to the fulfilment of the aforementioned obligations.

The documentation referred to must be submitted to the Institute within the time limit determined in the Resolution approving the aid.

15th. Justification and payment of the aid. -After the aid has been approved, the payment of the aid will be carried out according to the following considerations:

1. Aid to compensate for the costs arising from the closure of production units in one or more annual financial years shall be collected when the new supply contract has been credited to the Institute or its waiver in the event of closure. total of the mining company, as well as the fulfilment of the other requirements of the 14th point of this Order.

2. For the purposes of Article 81 (6) (a) (4) and (5) of the recast of the General Budget Law, the payment of such aid shall be made by the Institute and paid directly to the mining undertaking, to its option and to the upon express request, in accordance with any of the following payment procedures:

(a) Total closure of production units in a single annual year, pursuant to Article 1 (b) (1) of this Order.

1) The mining company shall receive the approved aid, on the basis of the costs incurred in closing the production unit, in accordance with the Annex to Council Regulation (EC) No 1407/2002 of 23 July 2002 on State aid to the coal industry, with the possibility of making payments of the same, at most, once a year.

2) The mining company may, without prior justification of expenditure, receive up to a maximum of 70% of the approved aid if it chooses to constitute any of the forms of guarantee provided for in the rules of the General Fund Deposits, regulated in Royal Decree 161/1997, of 7 February, such guarantee shall be constituted in favour of the Institute and shall cover the amount of the aid received and any interest on late payment which may be corresponding.

(b) Total closure of production units in more than one financial year, pursuant to Article 1 (b) (2) of this Order.

1) The mining company shall receive the aid approved in each of the financial years provided for the closure of the production unit, subject to the justification of the costs incurred in the closure, with the Annex to Council Regulation (EC) No 1407/2002 of 23 July 2002 on State aid to the coal industry, with a view to making payments of the same, at most, once a year.

2) The mining company may, without prior justification of expenditure, receive up to a maximum of 70% of the approved aid in each of the financial years provided for the closure of the production unit under aid, if it is constituted, for each of these exercises, any of the forms of guarantee provided for in Royal Decree 161/1997, of 7 February, that guarantee will be constituted in favour of the Institute and will have to cover the amount of the aid received and any interest for late payment which may be appropriate.

3. Once the amount of the costs incurred in closing the production unit has been verified by the mining company, the amount of the balance due to be paid or paid to the mining company will be adjusted as appropriate. of the Institute, depending on the actual amount of the said costs, with the limit of the maximum amount set out in the Resolution.

The supporting documents for the costs incurred in accordance with the Annex to Council Regulation 1407/2002 of 23 July 2002 shall be adequate and sufficient in accordance with the nature of each of them.

The maximum period for the justification of the costs incurred in the closure of the production unit, in accordance with the Annex to Council Regulation (EC) 1407/2002 of 23 July 2002 on State aid to the industry of the coal, it shall be two years from the date of the closure of the production unit in accordance with paragraph 111.4 of this Order.

The costs incurred by the undertaking, which are accredited after the period referred to in the preceding paragraph, shall not be counted nor shall they cause the modification of the aid.

4. In the event of non-compliance by the undertaking with the obligation to provide a complete justification for each of the costs incurred in closing, in accordance with the list of costs contained in the Annex to Council Regulation 1407/2002 of 23 July 2002, In 2002, the company must refund the amounts received and the interest on late payment due to them from the time of payment of the subsidy.

CHAPTER IV

Managing the aids

sixteenth. Inspection and information.-Without prejudice to the powers of the Autonomous Communities to whom the powers relating to the mining of coal have been transferred, the Institute shall carry out, in the exercise of its functions, any inspections precise to verify and verify compliance with the conditions and requirements to which the aid covered by this Order is subject.

The Institute may ask the requesting companies for aid in respect of any technical, employment and accounting information necessary for the verification of such aid. In accordance with the provisions of art. 81.6.b) .1 of the General Budget Law, the beneficiaries of the aid must provide information as required by the Court of Auditors.

For the calculation, management and payment of such aid, it may be contracted by the Institute, through a transparent and non-discriminatory objective procedure, to one or more collaborating entities to carry out such activities. The scope of action of these collaborating entities may be provincial, regional or national.

Additional disposition first. Unemployment benefits.

The workers who are causing a loss in the company and who, in order to meet the conditions laid down in the fifth point of this Order, receive compensation for termination of the employment relationship, financed by the aid set out in points (a) and (b) the seventh point of the same point, as well as the workers of the public coal mining companies, even if their undertakings are not beneficiaries of the aid provided for in this Ministerial Order, will also be entitled to the recognition by a (i) the contribution of the contributory level to the unemployment benefit for the maximum legal period, In accordance with the provisions of the additional decision of 29 June of Law 4/1990 of 29 June 1990, the General Budget of the State for 1990.

The legal status of unemployment of such workers must be brought about by virtue of a resolution in the file of employment regulation or by reason provided for in Article fifty-second (c) of the Staff Regulations. Workers, in which case it shall be necessary, in addition to the written communication of the employer to the worker, provided for in Article fifty-third (1) of the Staff Regulations, a decision of the employment authority determining the application of the additional decision of the Law 4/1990 of 29 June, prior to accreditation of the termination of the contract and the granting of the aid.

Workers who cause low employment in the sector not included in the preceding paragraphs shall be entitled to the unemployment benefits that correspond to them, depending on their periods of occupation.

In both cases, workers must meet the rest of the requirements that are required for the perception of unemployment benefits at the contributory or the care level.

When, after the termination of employment contracts in coal mining companies, irrespective of whether or not there is a perception of aid for low incentives or for pre-retirement, the application to the workers affected by the provisions of the additional decision of the Law 4/1990 of 29 June 1990 of the General Budget of the State for 1990, and have been granted contributory level benefits for the maximum period (a) the application of that provision may not be rerecognised in any provision; Subsequent contributory.

Additional provision second. Loss and duplication of aid.

In accordance with the provisions of Article 81 (8) of the Recast Text of the General Budget Law, the alteration of the conditions under consideration for the granting of the aid, and in any event, the concurrent grants or aid granted by other public or private, national or private authorities or public authorities, shall give rise to the amendment of the decision to grant the aid, and shall, where appropriate, reintegrate those already received.

First transient disposition.

The maximum period of two years for the accreditation of costs incurred in the closure of the production unit, in accordance with the Annex to Council Regulation (EC) 1407/2002 of 23 July 2002 on State aid to the Coal industry, by companies whose effective closure of the production unit has occurred between 1 January 2002 and the date of publication of this Order, shall be started on the day of the entry into force of this Regulation. Order.

Second transient disposition.

For the application of the aid for labour costs corresponding to the year 2004, the period referred to in the eighth point of this Order, will be 30 days from the publication of the same in the Official Gazette of the State.

Single Repeal Provision. Regulatory repeal.

The Ministerial Orders of 18 February 1998 and 30 July 1999 on aid to cover exceptional charges linked to plans for modernisation, restructuring and rationalisation of the activity of the coal mining companies.

Final disposition. Entry into force.

This Order shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Gazette of the State.

Madrid, 24 September 2003.

HANGING OUT AND FIGAREDO

Excmo. Mr. President of the Institute for the Restructuring of Coal Mining and Alternative Development of the Mining Comarcas.

ANNEX

Mining companies

High Bierzo, S.A.

Antracitas de Arlanza, S.L.

Antracitas de Gillon, S.A.

Antracitas de La Granja, S.A.

Antracitas de Tineo, S.A.

Campomanes Hermanos, S.A.

Carbonar, S.A.

Carbones Arlanza, S.A.

Carbones de Linares, S.L.

Carbones del Puerto, S.A. (CARPUSA).

Carbones el Tunel, S.L.

Carbones Pedraforca, S.A.

Carbones San Isidro and Maria, S.L.

Cia. General Minera de Teruel, S.A.

Coto Minero del Narcea, S.A.

Coto Minero Jove, S.A.

E. N. Carbonifera del Sur, S.A. (ENCASUR).

Endesa Generación, S.A.

González y Diez, S.A.

Sons of Baldomero García, S.A.

Hullas del Coto Cortes, S.A.

Hullera Vasco-Leonesa, S.A.

Industrial and Comercial Minera, S.A. (INCOMISA).

La Carbonifera del Ebro, S.A.

Malaba, S.A.

Mina Adelina, S.A.

Mina Escobal, S.L.

Mina La Camocha, S.A.

Mina La Sierra, S.L.

Mina Los Compadres, S.L.

Minas de reeeo, S.L.

Minas de Valdeloso, S.L.

Minas del Principality, S.A.

Minas Listen, S.A.

Minas and Holdings Industriales, S.A. (MINEX).

Minas and Ferrocarril de Utrillas, S.A.

Minera del Bajo Segre, S.A.

Minero Siderúrgica de Ponferrada, S.A.

Muñoz Sole Hermanos, S.A.

Promoter de Minas de Carbon, S.A.

S. A. Mining company Catalano Aragonesa.

Union Minera del Norte, S.A. (UMINSA).

Union Minera Ebro Segre, S.A. (UMESA).

Viloria Hermanos, S.A.

Virgilio Riesco, S.A.