On Monday 9 February, the European Commission approved Italian public aid of €390 million in the form of a rescue loan to Acciaierie d'Italia (AdI, formerly Ilva), Italy’s main integrated steel producer (eight sites employing 10,000 people, including 8,000 in Taranto, with a production capacity capped at 6 million tonnes of crude carbon steel).
AdI has been undergoing an insolvency procedure since February 2024, and is currently in the process of being bought out by a new operator to be selected via a tender procedure launched by the Italian authorities. Until then, it faces serious liquidity problems to cover its operating costs.
Having assessed the emergency loan in the light of the EU State aid rules (the steel sector is not covered by the 2014 Rescue and Restructuring Aid Guidelines - see EUROPE 11118/26), the Commission takes the view that the Italian aid: - does not confer an advantage that adversely affects competition in the steel sector; - avoids major social hardship, especially in the Puglia region; - is strictly limited to the liquidity problem identified; - is priced at market rate for a period of six months, at the end of which Italy has committed to restructure the company, liquidate it or reimburse the aid.
Since 2013, an infringement procedure has been ongoing against Italy for its failure to fully transpose the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75).
The EU institution specifies that the agreed rescue loan is intended solely to cover operational costs, while Italy remains obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure that the Taranto plant operates in compliance with EU rules. And the Commission takes note that the future operator will have to decarbonise production (shutting down of coal-fired hot areas, building of electric furnaces, compliance with the requirements of the plant’s environmental permit).
In June 2024, the EU Court of Justice ruled that the operation of the Ilva steelworks in Taranto should be suspended if it presented serious and significant risks to the environment and human health (case C-626/22 - see EUROPE 13439/28).
In order to ensure equal treatment with other steel companies, the Commission undertook on Monday to apply the same methodology as that which led to the AdI decision for other similar companies in difficulty in the EU. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)