§ Mr. Kevin HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the circumstances in which she will accept continued state aid from the EU for the UK coal industry. [10376]
§ Mr. WilsonThe EU must approve state aid paid by the Government to the UK coal industry, but it does not itself pay such aid.
The DTI is currently reviewing the rationale for the business support it gives, and so it would be premature to give a definitive view on the circumstances in which we would continue to subsidise the UK coal industry. However, as a general principle we would need to be convinced that the benefits of continued subsidy (for example in energy supply, economic or social terms) would outweigh the costs of that subsidy.