Brussels, 30/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 30 March, a European Commission spokesperson, Lucia Caudet, said that at this stage and to the best of her knowledge, there had been no contacts between the Commission and the British authorities regarding a possible nationalisation of the British division of the steel company Tata Steel.
A few hours earlier, the company had announced its intention of selling all of its activities in the United Kingdom, due to financial performances which have deteriorated considerably in recent months. “We are looking at, we have looked at and we will continue to look at all the options, and I do mean all the options”, Anna Soubry, the British minister for SMEs, told the BBC. She added that she was not ruling out the possibility of a temporary nationalisation of the Tata Steel sites until a buyer could be found.
On behalf of the Commission, Caudet stressed that she was not yet in a position to “tell you more details on how state aid rules could or couldn't apply” to this specific case. (Original in French by Elodie Lamer)