Brussels, 13/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has adopted guidelines on aid to the steel industry that will apply on expiry of the ECSC Treaty, on 23 July 2002. According to these guidelines, regional aid to investment and aid to rescue and reconstruction remain prohibited. Aid to closure, on the other hand, may be authorised under certain conditions, defined in the framework of the code of aid for the steel industry, that the Commission adopted in December 1996. Aid for environmental protection and in favour of research and development is submitted to the same horizontal rules as for the other sectors of the economy.