The European Commission said today it had decided to back British plans for aid worth £60 million sterling to the coal industry to cover investment costs.
"The aid scheme is designed to support commercially viable investment projects that maintain access to coal reserves at mines with a viable future and create and/or safeguard jobs in socially and economically disadvantaged areas," it said.
The EU executive said the funds would not count as production aid and that the subsidies would cover a maximum 30 per cent of the total cost of each investment project.
EU countries are allowed to provide for their coal industries, partly to further restructure the struggling sector. The Commission in May approved a handout of €3.3 billion by Germany to its coal companies.