§ 27. Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will indicate, on the basis of the latest information, the average subsidy per tonne of coal produced in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and Germany, respectively.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe latest available information on financial assistance for coal in those countries relates to 1982 and is as follows:
Direct production subsidies (£ per tonne) Investment finance (£million) United Kingdom 3.2 686 Federal Republic of Germany 4.5 259 France 17.2 37 Belgium 17.7 26 SourceEuropean Commission
Note
(The estimates of production subsidies do not include the German "coal penny" because it is not a direct subsidy but rather a tax on electricity consumers which is distributed to the electricity industry in compensation for using uncompetitive coal supplies. Subsidies towards social costs such as pensions, health insurance, transfer and redundancy payments are also omitted because social security arrangements differ so widely between Member States that valid comparison is not possible.)