Steinkohlefinanzierungsgesetz (German Coal Financing Act) Steinkohlefinanzierungsgesetz (German Coal Financing Act)

The "Act on the Financing of the Termination of Subsidized Coal Mining by the Year 2018" passed in 2007 sealed the fate of German coal mining. This federal law served the financing of the sales of German coal for use in power plants and for steel production until 2018, the financing of expenses by mining companies following permanent closures, the financing of additionally existing obligations of mining companies – so-called "eternity costs" – as well as the financing of the socially acceptable adjustment process for older workers of the German coal mining industry. Following the earthquake in the Saarwellingen region caused by mining operations on 23 February 2008, the RAG decided to prematurely stop coal mining operations in the Saarland. On 30 June 2012, more than 250 years of mining in the Saar region came to an end.