Brussels, 20/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 20 July, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Council regulation on state aid to facilitate the closure of loss-making hard coal mines in the EU by 15 October 2014. Any further operating aid to the sector will be conditional on the presentation of a closure plan for the loss-making mines. Member states concerned (Germany, Spain, Poland and Romania) will be able to assist with the counselling and training of the affected workers, ensuring that the mining sites are properly cleaned up and safe.
European Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia has asserted: “Renewable, clean energy is the way to go, but we cannot ignore the dire regional economic and social consequences that would follow a sudden closure of the loss-making mines at this time of low or no growth and high unemployment”.
According to the proposal for a regulation, operating subsidies would need to be clearly digressive over time with a reduction of at least 33% per 15-month period and, in case a loss-making mine is not closed by 15 October 2014, the beneficiary would have to reimburse the state. Any closure aid would be subject to the presentation by the member state of a plan for appropriate measures, for example, in the field of energy efficiency, renewable energy or carbon capture and storage to mitigate the negative environmental impact of aid to the coal industry.
In the EU, hard coal production is on the decline and small compared to demand (147 million tonnes in 2008 or 21.5% of world production). In fact, the EU depends on imports for more than half of its use in coal-fired power stations.
Banning operating aid from the end of 2010, when the current regulation ends, would have dire social and economic consequences in several regions where there is still considerable employment in mines. It could even result in an increase of climate emissions as more coal would need to be transported from outside the EU to make up for the drop in European production.
The sector employs around 100,000 people in Europe: - 42,000 in the coal sector itself and over 55,000 in related industries. Mines that rely on operating subsidies are located mostly in the Ruhr region, in Germany, in north-west Spain and in the Jiu Valley in Romania. Poland accounts for more than half of the EU hard coal production, while the other half is manly produced by Germany, the UK, the Czech Republic and Spain. (L.C./transl.jl)