Database Specific
Database Specific Abstract AbstractGERMANY: GENERAL METADATA
Data documentation
The fiscal year in Germany coincides with the calendar year. Following OECD convention, amounts prior to 1999 are expressed as "euro-fixed series", in which the fixed EMU conversion rate (EUR 1 EUR = DEM 1.956) was applied to data initially expressed in the Deutsche Mark (DEM). In a few cases [1], the conversion into EUR was already made in official government documents.
Germany being a federal country, the data also cover the states (Lander) that are still producing hard coal (North Rhine Westphalia, NW) and those that were producing hard coal until recently (Saarland, SR). Also included are payments for the rehabilitation of lignite-mining sites in eastern Germany (see DEU_dt_13) made by the Federal Government and the states of Saxony (SN), Brandenburg (BR), Saxony Anhalt (ST), and Thuringen (TH).
Producer Support Estimate
Hard-coal mining in Germany has traditionally attracted support for geological, historical, and political reasons. Since production of hard coal remains largely uneconomic, with the country's last coal mine closing in December 2018.
Over the years, production of hard coal has been scaled back through numerous government initiatives. In the 1990s, the industry underwent various capacity-adjustment plans. Funding for these programmes was usually provided jointly by the coal-mining Land and the Federal Government, with the former accounting for about two-thirds of total payments.
Hard-coal production has generally been supported through a combination of debt-relief schemes, mining-royalty concessions, reduced pension contributions for miners and provisions guaranteeing demand for the hard coal produced (see Combined Aids in North Rhine Westphalia).
In accordance with the EU’s state-aid rules, the Federal Government does not provide any more assistance to coal-mining under article 5-3 (current production aid). In preparation for the closure of mines, most of the support is now provided in the form of early-retirement funding for coal miners.
Footnotes
[1] This applies to the support measures for which the source is Landtag des Saarlandes (2005).
Source Source Contact person/organisation Contact person/organisation Name of collection/source Name of collection/sourceOECD Companion to the Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels 2021
Data Characteristics Data Characteristics Date last updated Date last updatedNov-23
Other data characteristics Other data characteristicsData for 2022 are preliminary and may contain OECD-generated estimates.
Periodicity PeriodicityAnnual
Power code Power code Unit of measure used Unit of measure used Concepts & Classifications Concepts & Classifications Key statistical concept Key statistical conceptIndicator
PSE: Producer Support Estimate
GSSE: General Services Support Estimate
CSE: Consumer Support Estimate
Stage
EXTRACT: Extraction or mining stage
TRANS: Transportation of fossil fuels (e.g., through pipelines)
REFIN: Refining or processing stage
GENER: Use of fossil fuels in ectricity generation
INDUS: Use of fossil fuels in the industrial sector
END: Other end uses of fossil fuels
Statutory or Formal Incidence
consumption: Direct consumption
returns: Output Returns
income: Enterprise Income
inputs: Cost of Intermediate Inputs
labour: Labour
land: Land and natural resources
capital: Capital
knowledge: Knowledge
Other Aspects Other Aspects Other comments Other comments Recommended uses and limitations Recommended uses and limitations1) Fiscal cost of support measures for fossil fuels are based on information reported by countries through official documentation (e.g. budget reports). Support measures for which such information is not available are excluded from the aggregate amount reported in this table. In addition, support measures in certain countries may not have been exhaustively identified.
2) Tax expenditures are estimates of revenue that is foregone due to a particular feature of the tax system that reduces or postpones tax payments (relative to a jurisdiction’s benchmark tax system) to the benefit of fossil fuels’ producers or users. Hence, (i) tax expenditures estimates can increase either because of greater concessions (relative to the benchmark tax system) or because of an increase in the benchmark itself; (ii) cross-country comparisons of tax expenditures can be misleading due to country-specific benchmark tax systems.
3) Support measures for fossil fuels are included in the Inventory without reference to their economic or environmental effects. No judgment is therefore made as to whether such measures are inefficient or ought to be reformed.
GERMANY: GENERAL METADATA
Data documentation
The fiscal year in Germany coincides with the calendar year. Following OECD convention, amounts prior to 1999 are expressed as "euro-fixed series", in which the fixed EMU conversion rate (EUR 1 EUR = DEM 1.956) was applied to data initially expressed in the Deutsche Mark (DEM). In a few cases [1], the conversion into EUR was already made in official government documents.
Germany being a federal country, the data also cover the states (Lander) that are still producing hard coal (North Rhine Westphalia, NW) and those that were producing hard coal until recently (Saarland, SR). Also included are payments for the rehabilitation of lignite-mining sites in eastern Germany (see DEU_dt_13) made by the Federal Government and the states of Saxony (SN), Brandenburg (BR), Saxony Anhalt (ST), and Thuringen (TH).
Producer Support Estimate
Hard-coal mining in Germany has traditionally attracted support for geological, historical, and political reasons. Since production of hard coal remains largely uneconomic, with the country's last coal mine closing in December 2018.
Over the years, production of hard coal has been scaled back through numerous government initiatives. In the 1990s, the industry underwent various capacity-adjustment plans. Funding for these programmes was usually provided jointly by the coal-mining Land and the Federal Government, with the former accounting for about two-thirds of total payments.
Hard-coal production has generally been supported through a combination of debt-relief schemes, mining-royalty concessions, reduced pension contributions for miners and provisions guaranteeing demand for the hard coal produced (see Combined Aids in North Rhine Westphalia).
In accordance with the EU’s state-aid rules, the Federal Government does not provide any more assistance to coal-mining under article 5-3 (current production aid). In preparation for the closure of mines, most of the support is now provided in the form of early-retirement funding for coal miners.
Footnotes
[1] This applies to the support measures for which the source is Landtag des Saarlandes (2005).
OECD Companion to the Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels 2021
Annual
Nov-23
Data for 2022 are preliminary and may contain OECD-generated estimates.
Indicator
PSE: Producer Support Estimate
GSSE: General Services Support Estimate
CSE: Consumer Support Estimate
Stage
EXTRACT: Extraction or mining stage
TRANS: Transportation of fossil fuels (e.g., through pipelines)
REFIN: Refining or processing stage
GENER: Use of fossil fuels in ectricity generation
INDUS: Use of fossil fuels in the industrial sector
END: Other end uses of fossil fuels
Statutory or Formal Incidence
consumption: Direct consumption
returns: Output Returns
income: Enterprise Income
inputs: Cost of Intermediate Inputs
labour: Labour
land: Land and natural resources
capital: Capital
knowledge: Knowledge
1) Fiscal cost of support measures for fossil fuels are based on information reported by countries through official documentation (e.g. budget reports). Support measures for which such information is not available are excluded from the aggregate amount reported in this table. In addition, support measures in certain countries may not have been exhaustively identified.
2) Tax expenditures are estimates of revenue that is foregone due to a particular feature of the tax system that reduces or postpones tax payments (relative to a jurisdiction’s benchmark tax system) to the benefit of fossil fuels’ producers or users. Hence, (i) tax expenditures estimates can increase either because of greater concessions (relative to the benchmark tax system) or because of an increase in the benchmark itself; (ii) cross-country comparisons of tax expenditures can be misleading due to country-specific benchmark tax systems.
3) Support measures for fossil fuels are included in the Inventory without reference to their economic or environmental effects. No judgment is therefore made as to whether such measures are inefficient or ought to be reformed.