Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-21T17:41:35.991Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Western Europe's Long Retreat from Coal and Implications for Energy Trade

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 September 2020

Ronald P. Steenblik*
Affiliation:
International Institute for Sustainable Development, Geneva
Mark Mateo
Affiliation:
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, France
*
*Corresponding author email: Ronald.Steenblik@gmail.com

Abstract

Western Europe's industrialization was powered largely by coal. Within 15 years after the end of the Second World War, however, governments were subsidizing coal and protecting producers from foreign competition while allowing their industries to contract in a way that avoided large-scale unemployment of miners. The oil-price shocks of 1973–1974 and 1979–1980 gave temporary reprieve to hard-coal production until international oil prices slumped in 1986. This event, combined with ever more stringent environmental regulations and, later, caps on carbon-dioxide emissions, led to the disappearance of subsidized coal mining in one country after another. As of the end of 2019, hard coal was still being mined – in small amounts – in only three Western European countries: Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom. This paper describes the history of the industry from 1945 through to the present, and the consequences of subsidy policy for trade in hard coal and its substitutes. A common observation is that a reduction in subsidized coal production by a country has not necessarily translated into increased imports of coal on a one-for-one basis.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adelman, MA (1972) The World Petroleum Market. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press for Resources for the Future.Google Scholar
Alter, K and Steinberg, D (2007) The Theory and Reality of the European Coal and Steel Community. Meunier, S and McNamara, KR (eds.), Making History: European Integration and Institutional Change at Fifty. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 89104.Google Scholar
Anonymous (2019a) The History of the Limburg Coal Field. Kortrijk, Belgium: European Mining Heritage Network.Google Scholar
Anonymous (2019b) 20 More Years of Mining: Store Norske, After Drastic Downsizing, Plans to Extract Coal from Mine 7 until 2040. Icepeople.net (Longyearbyen, Norway), 5 August 2019.Google Scholar
APEC (2009) APEC Summit. Leaders’ Declaration: Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region. Singapore: Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation.Google Scholar
Arkes, H (2015) Bureaucracy, the Marshall Plan, and the National Interest. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.10.1515/9781400867042CrossRefGoogle Scholar
A.S.A. (1948) Coal in Europe. The World Today 4(3): 110117.Google Scholar
Barlow, JM (2018) Gale Researcher Guide for: Reconstruction after World War II. Farmington Hills, MO: Gale.Google Scholar
Bast, E, Doukas, A, Pickard, S, van der Burg, L and Whitley, S (2015) Empty Promises: G20 Subsidies to Oil, Gas and Coal Production, London and Washington: Overseas Development Institute and Oil Change International.Google Scholar
Bizzozero, DE (2003) The Significance of Coal in the Success of the Marshall Plan and European Economic Recovery. Master's Thesis, New Britain Connecticut: Central Connecticut State University.Google Scholar
Bocse, A-M and Gegenbauer, C (2017) UK's Dash for Gas: Implications for the Role of Natural Gas in European Power Generation. European Centre for Energy and Resource Security Strategy Paper, No. 14, London: Department of War Studies, King's College London.Google Scholar
BP (2019) Coal. BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2019, London: BP, pp. 4147.Google Scholar
Brecht, C, Goethe, H–G, Krämer, H, Reintges, H, and Willing, H-G (1983) Jarbuch für Bergbau, Energie, Mineralöl und Chemie 1982/83, Essen: Verlag Glückauf GmbH.Google Scholar
Burke-Kennedy (2018) Government Still Providing Millions in Subsidises for Fossil Fuels – CSO. Irish Times, 9 April 2018, updated 16 April 2018.Google Scholar
Cassiers, I, De Villé, P, and Solar, PM (1996) Economic Growth in Postwar Belgium. in Crafts, N and Toniolo, G (eds.) Economic Growth in Europe Since 1945, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 173209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crafts, N and Toniolo, G (eds.) (1996) Economic Growth in Europe Since 1945, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Council of the European Communities (1975) Council Directive 75/404/EEC of 13 February 1975 on the Restriction of the Use of Natural Gas in Power Stations. Official Journal of the European Communities, L 178: 2425.Google Scholar
Council of the European Union (2002) Council Regulation (EC) No. 1407/2002 of 23 July 2002 on State Aid to the Coal industry. Official Journal of the European Communities, L 205: 18.Google Scholar
Council of the European Union (2010) Council Decision of 10 December 2010 on State Aid to Facilitate the Closure of Uncompetitive Coal Mines (2010/787/EU), Official Journal of the European Union, L 336: 2429.Google Scholar
CVCE (2015) Treaty Establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (Paris, 18 April 1951). Luxembourg: Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l'Europe.Google Scholar
CVCE (2016) The ECSC in difficulties. Memo. Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l'Europe, Luxembourg.Google Scholar
DBEIS (2019) Historical Coal Data: Coal Production, 1853 to 2018. London: UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/historical-coal-data-coalproduction-availability-and-consumption.Google Scholar
Economic Weekly, The (1959) The Coal Crisis in Europe. 4 April, 481–482.Google Scholar
Eichengreen, B and Ritschl, A (2008) Understanding West German Economic Growth in the 1950s. SFB 649 Discussion Paper No. 2008–068, Humboldy University, Berlin.Google Scholar
Energy Information Administration (EIA) (2012) Annual Energy Review 2011. Washington, DC: Energy Information Administration.Google Scholar
Eriksen, F (2019) Germany Joins 31 Nations in Coal Phaseout Alliance PPCA. Clean Energy Wire, 23 September 2019, www.cleanenergywire.org/news/germany-joins-31-nations-coal-phaseout-alliance-ppca.Google Scholar
European Commission (1965) Commission Decision 3/65/ECSC Regarding the Community System of Measures Taken by Member States to Assist the Coal-Mining Industry. Official Journal of the European Union L31.Google Scholar
European Commission (1971) Commission Decision No. 3/71/ECSC of the Commission of 22 December 1970 on Community Rules for Interventions by Member States for the Benefit of the Coal Industry. Official Journal of the European Union L3, 1016.Google Scholar
European Commission (1975) Medium-Term Guidelines for Coal 1975 to 1985. Official Journal of the European Union C22, 118.Google Scholar
European Commission (1993) Commission Decision No. 3632/93/ECSC of 28 December 1993 Establishing Community Rules for State Aid to the Coal Industry. Official Journal of the European Union L329, 1218.Google Scholar
European Commission (2002) Expiry of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty: An Overview. Memo/02/145: Brussels.Google Scholar
European Energy Exchange (2018) Emission Spot Primary Market Auction Report 2018. Leipzig, Germany: European Energy Exchange AG. www.eex.com/en/market-data/environmental-markets/auction-market/european-emission-allowances-auction/european-emission-allowances-auction-download.Google Scholar
European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) (no date) Italian Centre for Coal Mining Culture. Meerbusch, Germany: European Route of Industrial Heritage e.V.Google Scholar
Fosty, J (1966) Les fermetures de charbonnages sont-elles justifies? (Are the Pit Closures Justified?), Luxemburger Wort, Luxembourg: Imprimerie Saint-Paul.Google Scholar
Galgóczi, B (2019) Phasing Out Coal – A Just Transition Approach. Working Paper 2019.04, Brussels: European Trade Union Institute.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
G20 (2009) Pittsburgh Summit: Leaders’ Statement. University of Toronto, Toronto.Google Scholar
G20 (2017) Germany's Effort to Phase out and Rationalise Its Fossil-Fuel Subsidies. A report on the G20 peer-review of inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption in Germany. Paris.Google Scholar
GATT (1991) Questions Submitted by Australia on the Legislation of the European Communities. SCM/W/247 and L/6630/Add.20 (22 October 1991), Geneva: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.Google Scholar
GSI (2017) India's Energy Transition: Mapping subsidies to fossil fuels and clean energy in India, Geneva: Global SubsidiesInitiative of the International Institute for Sustainable Development.Google Scholar
Hassel, N (2017) The European Community's First Confrontations with Energy Security: A Study on the First Efforts of the Commission to Develop s Common Approach on Energy Policy. Trondheim: Faculty of Humanities, Department of Historical Studies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.Google Scholar
Hodges, J (2018) Coal Nears $100 in Europe as China's Power Demand Draws in Fuel. Bloomberg News 3 September 2018.Google Scholar
Holz, F, Kafemann, IV, Sartor, O, Scherwath, T, and Spencer, T (2018) What Does ‘Peak Coal’ Mean for International Coal Exporters? A Global Modelling Analysis on the Future of the International Steam Coal Market. Paris and London: IDDRI and Climate Strategies.Google Scholar
IEA (1977) Principles for Energy Policy. 5 October 1977, IEA/GB(77)52 (1st Revision) Annex, reproduced in Scott (1994): 381–384.Google Scholar
IEA (1988) Coal Prospects and Policies in IEA Countries. Paris: OECD Publications for the International Energy Agency.Google Scholar
IEA (2018a) World Energy Outlook 2018. Paris: OECD Publications for the International Energy Agency.Google Scholar
IEA (2018b) Coal Information Statistics. Paris: OECD Publications for the International Energy Agency.Google Scholar
Jackson, S (1979) Prologue to the Marshall Plan: The Origins of the American Commitment for a European Recovery Program. The Journal of American History 65(4), 10431068.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jong de TPR (2004) Coal Mining in the Netherlands: The Need for a Proper Assessment. Geologica Belgica 7(3–4), 231243.Google Scholar
Kaltenbach, E and Maaßen, U (2019) Braunkohle (Brown Coal). BWK 71(6), 112.Google Scholar
Keenan, G (1947) Memorandum by the Director of the Policy Planning Staff (Kennan), 16 May 1947. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, The British Commonwealth; Europe: Volume III, Washington, DC: Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State.Google Scholar
Lee, J-S (2004) The French Road to European Community: From the ECSC to the EEC (1945–1957). Journal of International and Area Studies 11(2), 107123.Google Scholar
Lichfield, J (2004) France Ends Coal Mining with Tears but not a Single Protest. The Independent, 24 April 2004.Google Scholar
Macalister, T, Duncan, P, Levett, C, Sheehy, F, Scruton, P, and Swann, G (2015) The Demise of UK Deep Coal Mining: Decades of Decline. The Guardian, 18 December 2015.Google Scholar
Meadows, DH, Meadows, DL, Randers, J, and WW Behrens, III (1972) The Limits to Growth: A Report of the Club of Rome's Project on the Predicament of Mankind. Washington, DC: Universe Books.Google Scholar
Miljević, D, Mumović, M, and Kopač, J (2019) Analysis of Direct and Selected Indirect Subsidies to Coal Electricity Production in the Energy Community Contracting Parties. Vienna, Austria: Energy Community.Google Scholar
Musariri, D (2019) Here's Where the UK's Last Remaining Mines are Still Being Operated – And Where Others Are Planned. NS Business, 20 March 2019. www.ns-businesshub.com/science/coal-mining-in-the-uk/.Google Scholar
OECD (2018) Inventory of Energy Subsidies in the EU's Eastern Partnership Countries. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
OECD (n.d.) OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels. Paris: OECD. https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=FFS_ARGGoogle Scholar
Payne, AR and Thakkar, BS (2012) The Marshall Plan – Global Strategy and Foreign Humanitarian Aid. Cuadra-Montiel, H (ed.), The Marshall Plan – Global Strategy and Foreign Humanitarian Aid. London: IntechOpen, pp. 133162. www.intechopen.com/books/globalization-approaches-to-diversity/the-marshall-planglobal-strategy-and-foreign-humanitarian-aid.Google Scholar
Pepermans, A (2017) The Sino-European Solar Panel Dispute: China's Successful Carrot and Stick Approach towards Europe. Journal of Contemporary European Research 13(4), 13941411.Google Scholar
Podsiadło, P (2015) State Aid for the Coal Sector in the European Union: Pre- and Post-Crisis Perspective. Naše Gospodarstvo/Our Economy 61(5), 311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ponting, C (1992) A Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations. New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Reischer, OR (1949) Saar Coal after Two World Wars. Political Science Quarterly 64(1), 5064.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reuters (2018) Enerji ve Tabii Kaynaklar ve Bakan Berat Albayrak [Energy and Natural Resources and Minister Berat Albayrak]. Haber Turk, 5 June 2018.Google Scholar
Ribeiro, J, Ferreira da Silva, E. and Flores, D. (2010) Burning of Coal Waste Piles from Douro Coalfield (Portugal): Petrological, Geochemical and Mineralogical Characterization. International Journal of Coal Geology 81(4), 359372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Río del, P (2017) Coal Transition in Spain, Paris and London: IDDRI and Climate Strategies.Google Scholar
Schuman, R (1950) Schuman Declaration and the Birth of Europe. Speech of 9 May 1950. http://schuman.info/9May1950.htm.Google Scholar
Scott, R (1994) The History of the International Energy Agency, 1974–1994 – Volume Two: Major Policies and Actions. Paris: OECD Publications for the International Energy Agency.Google Scholar
Skjærseth, JB and Wettestad, J (2009) The Origin, Evolution and Consequences of the EU Emissions Trading System. Global Environmental Politics 9(2), 101122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Söderholm, P (1998) Fuel Choice in West European Power Generation since the 1960s. OPEC Review 22(3): 201231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staffell, I, Green, R, Gross, R, and Green, T (2019) Britain's Power System Is Closer than Ever to Being Fossil-Free. Drax Electric Insights Quarterly – Q2 2019. Selby, North Yorkshire and London, UK: Drax Group plc and Imperial Consultants.Google Scholar
Steenblik, R (2020) The Long Good-Bye: Western Europe's Protracted Withdrawal from Subsidized Hard-Coal Mining.Google Scholar
Steenblik, R and Coroyannakis, P (1995) Reform of Coal Policies in Western and Central Europe: Implications for the Environment. Energy Policy 23(6), 537553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steenblik, R, Sauvage, J, and Timiliotis, C (2018) Fossil Fuel Subsidies and the Global Trade Regime. Van Asselt, H and Skovgaard, J (eds.) The Politics of Fossil Fuel Subsidies and their Reform. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 121139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, EM (1952) Coal Supply and European Rearmament. Editorial Research Reports 1952, vol. I. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
United States (1947) European Recovery and American Aid: A Report by the President's Committee on Foreign Aid. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Wagner, H-F (1981) Energy in Europe: Demand, Forecast, Control and Supply. Amman, F and Wilson, R (eds.), Energy Demand and Efficient Use, Ettore Majorana International Science Series (Physical Sciences), vol. 9. Boston, MA: Springer, pp. 2397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, WC (2002) Antitrust and the Formation of the Postwar World. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Yijun, L and Li, M (2016) Impacts of Low Oil Price on China and the World Natural Gas Industry Chain. Natural Gas Industry B 3(5), 493503.Google Scholar