Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-11-23-Speech-2-047"
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"en.20101123.5.2-047"2
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"Madam President, this is not a straightforward matter. It is therefore important for us in Parliament to establish a well-balanced position. There are two main aspects to take into consideration. On the one hand, it is unreasonable, in the long term, to continue to keep this uncompetitive form of mining alive artificially. For reasons relating to both the environment and competition, it is unsustainable to use public subsidy programmes to ensure that unprofitable coal mining continues. It is therefore logical for the subsidies for this activity now to be phased out.
On the other hand, the abolition of subsidies will have a huge impact, not only on the tens of thousands of coal miners who will be forced to look for new jobs, but also on their families and everyone else who depends on mining. It will be a very difficult adjustment for the people living in the regions affected. Weighing up these two aspects is not easy. Nevertheless, I think the Commission has found a reasonable balance in its proposal. The subsidies will be discontinued, but this will be carefully managed, taking into consideration both jobs and the environment.
The regions concerned will suffer a difficult setback when the subsidies are discontinued but, at the same time, the proposal provides the opportunity for comprehensive social and environmental measures with a view to making this regional adjustment process as efficient as possible. It is extremely important for all of these opportunities to be fully utilised by national and regional authorities. Large-scale investment in active labour market initiatives and comprehensive environmental restoration measures is essential if the end result is to be acceptable for these regions.
So far, the debate has focused on three issues. Firstly, the argument has been put forward that the coal mines that become competitive during the closure period should be able to continue to operate. In my opinion, it would be wrong to include this option, because the aid that is to be granted must be used in the right way and based on definitive closure. Secondly, an end date for the closure aid has been discussed. In this regard, it is important to note that the current regulation has been in existence since 2002 and that everyone was aware that the exemptions from the competition rules would expire this year. There was therefore nothing very surprising in this. I can be flexible when it comes to the exact year. Thirdly, opinions have been divided regarding the environmental and sustainability elements in Parliament’s position. I believe that these elements should be as clear as possible, and they should definitely be more prominent than they are in the text produced by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. It is very important that we send out the right signal in this regard."@en1
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