In a written answer on 4 August 2026, Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné told the European Parliament that the Commission has no plans to introduce regulatory or financial measures to prevent the permanent loss of access to coking coal deposits when mines close, despite the EU recognising coking coal as a critical raw material. Responding to a question from Marcin Sypniewski (ESN) about the planned closure of the Sośnica mine in Poland, Séjourné said the decision to close coal mines lies with member states and is set out in their National Energy and Climate Plans and Territorial Just Transition Plans, with closures negotiated with civil society. He added that the Commission has no information on the specific impact on deposits affected by closure but will remain attentive to future developments.
Séjourné pointed to existing EU frameworks rather than new action: the Critical Raw Materials Act, which already applies to coking coal, and the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, designed to boost industrial capacities and decarbonisation in strategic sectors including iron and steel. He also noted that the Just Transition Fund supports affected regions and that the Research Fund for Coal and Steel finances projects on the safe repurposing of former mines. The answer stops short of any commitment to safeguard access to coking coal reserves for steelmaking or defence, despite Sypniewski's warning that closing Sośnica, which has a concession until 2042, could make it impossible to extract its semi-coking coal even via neighbouring mines.
the Commission prioritises the green transition and regional support over preserving access to fossil fuel deposits, even when those deposits are classified as critical for industrial security. This leaves a potential tension between the EU's critical raw materials strategy and its climate-driven mine closure programmes. For the steel and defence sectors, which rely on coking coal, the answer offers no new safeguards. For coal regions like Gliwice, the Just Transition Fund remains the main financial instrument, but it is designed for economic diversification, not for maintaining extraction. The Commission's stance may face further parliamentary scrutiny, particularly from MEPs in coal-dependent constituencies, as the Industrial Accelerator Act moves through the legislative process. The answer does not set any timeline for revisiting the issue, but the reference to remaining attentive suggests the Commission could respond to specific evidence of deposit loss in the future.