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27 August, 2007
Negotiation partners reached an agreement in early August on the future of the mining sector in Germany. Following months of discussions, a programme was agreed that sets out a path on how to deal with Germany's 200-year-old coal industry over the coming years. The agreement, which was brokered by, among others, the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and ICEM affiliate IGBCE, intends to have a gradual phase-out of coal subsidies.
The plan will now go to the parliament’s lower and upper houses for approval. A fully approved law is needed, so that compensation payments can be prepared for the industry’s 34,000 workers. Besides payments to the workers, the plan also projects to deal with the overall social and environmental effects of coal mining in the country.
Germany's federal and state governments will, as per the agreement, subsidise the coal sector with an estimated €21.6 billion until 2018. In addition, the agreement foresees the creation of a foundation for the coal company RAG, which will hold a substantive share of the company. This foundation will administer, until 2018, the funds for the eight remaining German coal mines, as well as the money that is intended to go to the mining workers.
Shares in RAG, currently a consortium in which ThyssenKrupp, Arcelor, E.On and RWE are involved, will be transferred to the new foundation. Besides that, preparations have also been made to float RAG shares (for its profitable non-mining activities, such as power stations, real estate and chemicals production) on the stock exchange as of next year. This initial public offering is expected to yield €5 to 8 billion, which will also be used to help cover the costs of the phasing out of the coal industry.
Following efforts by the IGBCE, a clause was added to the agreement, which calls for a serious re-examination of the plan in 2012, taking into account not only the possibility of an unexpected drop in energy reserves, but also that other energy sources might become prohibitively expensive
IGBCE President and ICEM Vice President Hubertus Schmoldt called the decision one of “historic consequence." The union’s members will be given the opportunity to end their careers gradually and the miners that work in those mines that will close earlier will receive compensation when they loose their jobs.