ArcelorMittal knew that a penal
shield protecting an environmental cleanup at the highly
polluting former ILVA steelworks at Taranto was due to run out
when it agreed to take over the ILVA group in March, Industry
Minister Stefano Patuanelli told the House Thursday - while
Premier Giuseppe Conte said nationalisation was a possible
solution.
The Franco-Indian group now wants to get out of the former
ILVA deal citing the lifting of the shield, but also wants to
cut almost half of its 10,777 workers, or 5,000, a condition the
government has said is unacceptable.
The government has given ArcelorMittal two days to respond to
its offer of restoring the shield and its request that the job
cuts be drastically reduced.
Patuanelli also told the House that the previous government's
save-business decree, which eliminated the penal shield, did not
lead to a change in the environmental plan, "a necessary element
to motivate rescinding the contract".
The minister added that "speaking of ILVA means speaking
about our country's industrial strategy.
"Thinking about a closure of the (former) ILVA plant has an
immediate social impact, but also has an immediate impact on all
the Italian sectors linked to steel, and not having ILVA means
not having a serious industrial plan for the country".
The Taranto steelworks is the largest in Italy and one of the
largest in Europe, employing over 8,000 workers.
The group has another 3,000 workers at two smaller plants in
Genoa and nearby Novi Ligure.
"ArcelorMittal does not know how to manage its own industrial
plan," added Patuanelli.
"I ask for an act of responsibility from all the political
forces, also in opposition, also from the trade unions and the
social partners," he said.
"We will resolve this situation if we respond as 'country
system'.
"It is the country that must respond".
Patuanelli added that ArcelorMittal was "not budging on the
5,000 redundancies".
The minister also said that the group "cannot leave Italy
promissory notes" and that "ILVA is a question of national
sovereignty".
Premier Giuseppe Conte said Thursday "those who come to Italy
must respect the rules" and said that the government was united
about reviving the penal shield, despite reports that the 5-Star
Movement (M5S) was against this.
He said the case could lead to the "legal battle of the
century".
Asked if the former ILVA group could be nationalised, he said
"we are weighing all options".
Former industry minister Luigi Di Maio, the 5-Star Movement
(M5S) leader, said "they begged me to give them the plant
telling me they would reach eight million tonnes. Then they
discovered they couldn't even reach four million"."
He said he had "improved" a previous deal and "forced
(ArcelorMittal) to high all 10,500 and not only 8,000 as they
wanted to do at the start".
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