(c) employment restructuring shall be implemented; levels of
productivity comparable to those obtained by EU steel
industry product groups shall be reached
by 31
December 2006, on the basis of the consolidated figures
of the benefiting companies concerned;
(d) compliance with the relevant Community acquis in the
field of environmental protection shall be achieved by
accession including the necessary investments addressed
in the business plan. In accordance with the business
plan the necessary future IPPC-related investment shall
also be made, in order to ensure compliance with
Directive
96/61/EC
concerning
integrated
pollution
prevention and control (
1
) by 1 November 2007.
10.
The business plan for the benefiting company Vítkovice
Steel shall be implemented. In particular:
(a) the Duo Mill shall be permanently closed no later than 31
December 2006. In the event of purchase of the company
by a strategic investor, the purchase contract shall be made
conditional on this closure by this date;
(b) restructuring efforts shall concentrate on the following:
— an increase in direct sales and a greater focus on cost
reduction, this being essential for more efficient
business management,
— adapting to market demand and shifting towards higher
value-added products,
— bringing forward the proposed investment in the
secondary steel making process from 2004 to 2003,
in order to allow the company to compete on quality
rather than on price;
(c) compliance with the relevant Community acquis in the
field of environmental protection shall be achieved by
accession including the necessary investments addressed
in the business plan, which include the need for future
IPPC-related investment.
11.
The business plan for the benefiting company Válcovny
Plechu Fry´dek Místek (VPFM) shall be implemented. In
particular:
(a) the Hot Rolling Mills Nos 1 and 2 shall be permanently
closed by the end of 2004;
(b) restructuring efforts shall concentrate on the following:
— making the necessary investment in order to reach a
higher quality of finished product in the short term,
— giving priority to the implementation of key identified
profit
improvement
opportunities
(including
employment
restructuring,
cost
reductions,
yield
improvements and distribution reorientation).
12.
Any subsequent changes in the overall restructuring
plan and the individual plans must be agreed by the
Commission and, where appropriate, by the Council.
13.
The implementation of the restructuring shall take place
under conditions of full transparency and on the basis of sound
market economy principles.
14.
The Commission and the Council shall closely monitor
the implementation of the restructuring and the fulfilment of
the conditions set out in this Protocol concerning viability,
State aid and capacity reductions before and after accession
until the end of the restructuring period, in accordance with
paragraphs 15 to 18. For this purpose the Commission shall
report to the Council.
15.
The Commission and the Council shall monitor the
restructuring benchmarks set out in Annex 3.
16.
Monitoring shall include an independent evaluation to
be carried out in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. The
Commission's viability test shall be an important element in
ensuring that viability is achieved.
17.
The Czech Republic shall cooperate fully with all the
arrangements for monitoring. In particular:
— the Czech Republic shall supply the Commission with
6-monthly reports concerning the restructuring of the
benefiting companies, no later than 15 March and 15
September of each year until the end of the restructuring
period,
— the first report shall reach the Commission by 15 March
2003 and the last report by 15 March 2007, unless the
Commission decides otherwise,
— the reports shall contain all the information necessary to
monitor the restructuring process and the reduction and
use of capacity and shall provide sufficient financial data
to allow an assessment to be made of whether the
conditions and requirements contained in this Protocol
have been fulfilled. The reports shall at the least contain
the information set out in Annex 4, which the Commission
reserves the right to modify in line with its experiences
during the monitoring process. In addition to the individual
business reports of the companies listed in Annex 1, there
shall also be a report on the overall situation of the Czech
steel sector, including recent macroeconomic developments,
EN
23.9.2003
Official Journal of the European Union
935
(
1
) OJ L 257, 10.10.1996, p. 26.
— the Czech Republic shall oblige the benefiting companies to
disclose all relevant data which might, under other circum-
stances, be considered as confidential. In its reporting to the
Council, the Commission shall ensure that company-
specific confidential information is not disclosed.
18.
The Commission may at any time decide to mandate an
independent consultant to evaluate the monitoring results,
undertake
any
research
necessary
and
report
to
the
Commission and the Council.
19.
If the Commission establishes, on the basis of the
reports referred to in paragraph 16, that substantial deviations
from the financial data on which the viability assessment has
been made have occurred, it may require the Czech Republic to
take appropriate measures to reinforce the restructuring
measures of the benefiting companies concerned.
20.
Should the monitoring show that:
(a) the conditions for the transitional arrangements contained
in this Protocol have not been fulfilled, or that
(b) the commitments made in the framework of the extension
of the period during which the Czech Republic may excep-
tionally grant State support for the restructuring of its steel
industry under the Europe Agreement (
1
) have not been
fulfilled, or that
(c) the Czech Republic in the course of the restructuring
period has granted additional incompatible State aid to
the steel industry and to the benefiting companies in
particular,
the transitional arrangements contained in this Protocol shall
not have effect.
The Commission shall take appropriate steps requiring any
company concerned to reimburse any aid granted in breach
of the conditions laid down in this Protocol.
(
1
) OJ L 360, 31.12.1994, p. 2.
ANNEX 1
COMPANIES BENEFITING FROM STATE AID UNDER THE STEEL RESTRUCTURING PROGRAMME OF THE
CZECH REPUBLIC
NOVÁ HUT
ˇ, a.s.
Vratimovská 689
707 02 Ostrava-Kuncˇice
Czech Republic
VÍTKOVICE STEEL, a.s.
Ruská 2887/101
706 02 Ostrava — Vítkovice
Czech Republic
VÁLCOVNY PLECHU, a.s.
Krˇizˇíkova 1377
Fry´dek — Místek
Czech Republic
EN
936
Official Journal of the European Union
23.9.2003