WRITTEN QUESTION E-1575/03 by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission. Greenhouse gas emissions from disused coal mines.
Date: 2003-05-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, State aid, control of State aid, gas field, gas industry, greenhouse gas, mining operation, tax incentive, tradeable emission permit

6.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 33 E/135

2.

Breakdown by Union institution of EbS news summaries and full coverage

Origin of ‘news’ material and of full coverage
of events (hours)

2000

%

2001

%

2002

%

European Commission

European Parliament

Council

Others

976

545

365

30

50,90

28,45

19,05

1,60

1 222

623

445

65

51,88

26,45

18,90

2,77

544

459

284

279

34,73

29,31

18,13

17,83

Total

1 916

100

2 355

100

1 566

100

3.

Take-up of EbS material by TV stations

For the past three years there has been no system available permanently to monitor the take-up by TV
stations of pictures transmitted by EbS. However, two experimental technologies were tested in 2000
(watermarking) and 2003 (picture matching), with a view to launching a call for tender for a permanent
system. To illustrate this, below are extracts from the two reports:

During the second half of 2000, an independent firm named Medialink measured the use of EbS
transmissions from a sample of 79 national and pan-European television stations of the 627 which
use EbS regularly. 90 % of these stations each broadcast an average of 25 programmes including EbS
pictures. In Germany alone, 23 international, national and regional stations such as 3Sat, Phoenix,
ARD, ZDF, N-TV and Bayerische Rundfunk broadcast 503 programmes including EbS pictures.

In 2003, JLM Conseil carried out a survey on the use of EbS pictures between 19 and 21 March,
during the European Council.
JLM’s report shows that a sample of 12 television stations from
Denmark, Spain and France, plus two cross-border stations, broadcast 153 news items in three days,
76 % of which contained EbS pictures. The pictures took up almost half
(49,4 %) of the total
broadcasting time.

The above reports are available on request and will shortly be published on the website (1).

(1) The 2002 figures are lower because the statistics for the previous two years included the retransmission of ‘news’
(live or recorded) coverage of events. The figures for 2000 and 2001 without

the full

summaries and of
retransmissions would be about 1/3 of the ones mentioned here.

(2004/C 33 E/134)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1575/03

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(8 May 2003)

Subject: Greenhouse gas emissions from disused coal mines

What contribution to greenhouse gas emissions within the EU does the Commission estimate is derived
from methane from disused coal mines?

In which Member States does the Commission believe this is most likely to be a significant factor as a
proportion of total emissions?

Do reliable means of measuring the amount of methane escaping from disused coal mines exist?

Which Member States currently provide financial or fiscal incentives to encourage the extraction and use
of coal mine methane?

C 33 E/136

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2004

Does the Commission have any plans to extend the EU Emissions Trading Scheme to allow credits to be
claimed for coal mine methane projects?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(23 June 2003)

While there is comprehensive data available on methane emissions from coal mines that are in use, the
agreed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reporting guidelines under the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) do not include any methodology to estimate and
report methane emissions from disused coalmines. This means for the time being the emissions from
disused coalmines are not calculated or accounted for under internationally agreed guidelines.

The five countries reporting significant amounts methane from coalmines in use are: Germany, Greece,
Spain, France and the United Kingdom.

There are means of measuring the amount of methane emitted from disued coalmines.

Some Member States are working on methodologies to optimise the monitoring of methane from disused
coal mines in particular where methane is recovered.

The Commission is not aware of any Member State currently providing fiscal incentives to encourage the
extraction and use of coalmine methane. The British authorities have however notified a proposal to grant
the coal mine methane industry a full exemption from the British Climate Change Levy. This proposal is
currently under investigation under the State aid rules.

In the Council’s political compromise reached on energy taxation in March 2003, a possibility for a tax
exemption/reduction has been included in favour of electricity generated from methane emitted by
abandoned coalmines (see article 15(1)(b) fourth indent in Council document 8084/03 Fisc 59 of 3 April
2003). The Council is currently consulting the Parliament on this compromise.

As for other financial incentives, the Commission is only aware that electricity produced from coal mine
methane, including methane from disused coal mines, benefits from a price above the market price for
electricity in Germany. This is because coalmine methane is included in the definition of renewable energy
sources under the German legislation on renewable energy sources (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, EEG).
The Commission has decided that this measure does not constitute State aid (State aid case number NN
27/2000).

The Commission will carry out reviews in 2004 and 2006 considering whether to extend the Union
emissions trading scheme to other activities and to emissions of additional greenhouse gases, in accordance
with Article 30 of
the Common Position. These reviews will be comprehensive and so include
consideration of whether to bring methane emissions from disused coal mines within the coverage of the
Union emissions trading scheme. Any such step would depend upon reliable measuring and reporting
protocols being established.

(2004/C 33 E/135)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1577/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(8 May 2003)

Subject: Use of GMOs in agriculture

The Council of genetic rights, an independent body that seeks to establish links and inter-disciplinary
discussion between scientific,
legal, economic and philosophical experts in the biotechnology sphere,
recently called on the Italian government and European Commission to raise awareness among the
competent authorities of the applications of genetic engineering in farming and the patenting of genetic
inventions. The growing use of transgenic organisms in food products and animal feed is in fact causing