§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has as to the average level of Government subsidy per tonne of deep-mined coal each year since 1978 in each European Economic Community country and in the United States of America.
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§ Mr. Michael SpicerThe information requested is set out below. It has been obtained from European Commission publications. The United States of America does not provide financial support to its coal industry.
£ tonne Belgium France Federal Republic of Germany 3Spain 3Portugal 19781 27.70 15.80 11.91 — — 1979 31.16 16.56 13.69 — — 1980 27.75 15.17 12.19 — — 1981 25.46 11.95 10.94 — — 1982 16.47 17.72 8.65 — — 1983 15.47 19.19 12.06 — — 1984 20.09 19.87 12.30 — — 1985 21.68 22.00 11.72 — — 1986 34.90 23.76 21.25 — — 19874 57.55 22.16 29.45 12.08 4.92
United Kingdom2 1978–79 1.60 1979–80 2.30 1980–81 2.30 1981–82 3.28 1982–83 4.96 1983–84 12.71 1984–85 87.15 1985–86 6.37 1986–87 10.02 1 It is not possible to make absolute comparisons between the figures from different member states as the numerical basis may vary. 2 United Kingdom figures are on a financial year basis. The others are in calendar years. 3 Spanish and Portuguese data are not available prior to 1987. 4 1987 data are latest published estimates.