Activities of George Sabin CUTAȘ related to 2010/0220(NLE)
Plenary speeches (1)
State aid to facilitate the closure of uncompetitive coal mines (debate)
Amendments (10)
Amendment 21 #
Proposal for a regulation
Title
Title
on State aid to facilitate the closuretransition to competitivity of uncompetitive coal mines
Amendment 22 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) The small contribution of subsidised coal to the overall energy mix no longer justifies the maintenance of such subsidies with a view of securing the supply of energy on a Union level, as long as this result cannot be guaranteed by other means.
Amendment 23 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
Amendment 24 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3 a (new)
Recital 3 a (new)
(3a) Considering the scarcity of autochthonous energy sources in the EU, the Union's policies for promoting renewable fuels and fossil fuels with low carbon content in order to generate electricity justify the support to coal mines. The categories of aid permitted by Regulation (EC) No 1407/2002 should not be maintained indefinitely. In any event, all public aid aimed at reducing the effects of pollution caused by coal, should be maintained. Those mines that, after a ten-year period, are able to achieve competitiveness and require a financial boost from the public sector to enable them to make technological investments for environmental purposes, will also be exempt from the elimination of aid.
Amendment 29 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8 a (new)
Recital 8 a (new)
(8a) A minimum level of coal production, together with other measures, especially those aiming at the promotion of renewable energy sources, will contribute to the maintenance of a quota of primary energy sources, which will allow energy security in the Union to be reinforced significantly. In addition, a quota of autochthonous sources of primary energy will help to promote environmental goals in relation with sustainable development. In this framework of boosting autochthonous energy sources in Europe in order to counterbalance the continent's huge dependence on energy sources from outside its borders, consideration should be given to complementing autochthonous energy sources, which in many Member States are represented solely by coal, with non-fossil ones.
Amendment 33 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2
Article 2 – paragraph 2
2. Aid shall cover only costs in connection with coal for the production of electricity, the combined production of heat and electricity, the production of coke and the fuelling of blast furnaces in the steel industry as well as in connection with research and investments in technology aimed at reducing coal polluting emissions, where such use takes place in the Union.
Amendment 35 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) the operation of the production units concerned must form part of a closure plan the deadline of which does not extend beyond 31 OctoDecember 201420 ;
Amendment 36 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) the production units concerned must be closed definitively in accordance with the closure plan, in the event that they have not become competitive and provided that their continued operation is not necessary to meet Union's energy needs;
Amendment 40 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point f
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point f
(f) the overall amount of closure aid granted by a Member State for any particular undertaking must follow a downward trend, where the reduction between successive periods of fifteen months must not be less than 33 percent of the aid provided . This aid reduction shall not be applicable to the mines that have succeeded in becoming competitive during the initial fifteen month period of the closure planis period and which require public investments aimed only at reducing the polluting effects of coal ;
Amendment 45 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 2
2. If the production units to which aid is granted pursuant to paragraph 1 are not closed at the date fixed in the closure plan as authorised by the Commission, they have not become competitive and their continued operation is not necessary in the light of the energy autonomy conditions of that State, the Member State concerned shall recover all aid granted in respect of the whole period covered by the closure plan.