Written question asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Marland (Conservative) on Tuesday, 30 November 2010.

Energy: Coal Mining

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the proposed extension of the subsidy to German coal mining until 2018.

Answer: An Explanatory Memorandum was sent to the European Scrutiny Committees of both Houses of Parliament on 13 August 2010 on the original Commission proposal (Commission Document 12698/10 and Addenda) for a regulation to take effect from 1 January 2011. The proposal would allow ““closure aid”” to mines subject to a notified and defined closure plan as well as ““exceptional aid”” towards safety and social costs arising from mine closures, including local regeneration and employee reskilling programmes. Without this measure, the expiry of the existing Regulation (No 1407/2002) on 31 December 2010 would result in the abrupt, disorderly closure of subsidised mines, many of them in economically and socially deprived regions of the European Union. A text with some revisions is expected to be discussed at a Competition Council on 10 December and to be adopted by 1 January 2011.

Secondary information