The EU on Tuesday said it was taking a closer look into the billions of euros in aid promised by Berlin to firms hit by the closure of coal-fired power plants in Germany. "Our role is to safeguard competition by making sure that the compensation granted to the operators ... is kept to the minimum necessary," EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. "The information currently at our disposal does not allow us to confirm this with certainty, and we will now investigate this further," she added. arp/kjl