Many would be surprised to hear that the EU still has working coal mines. They would perhaps be even more so when they were told that they exist principally by virtue of state subsidies. However, if the European Commission has its way, as it often does, the EU’s coal mining industry could be gone before too long.

The Commission yesterday unveiled plans to continue subsidising EU coal mines for four more years but warned that after 2014, loss making mines would be forced to close. If they do not, they will have to repay their subsidies.

It will come as no shock to those who follow the EU that yet another industry is receiving state money in order to allow it to remain open. Indeed, the question of farm subsidies is on the agenda once again as the EU plans for another reform by 2013.

The mine closures will affect up to 100,000 workers throughout the EU. However, over half that number work in coal related industries and so could conceivably continue to function on cheap coal from Russia and China.

Much like the CAP, the idea of state handouts to an industry such as coal mining, an industry oft criticised for its environmental impact that produces one of the dirtiest fuels available will not sit well with many European voters, especially in this new climate of austerity plans. Unlike the CAP however, there seems to be an end in sight to these specific subsidies.