'Govt may intervene at ILVA' says Renzi

(ANSA) - Rome, December 3 - Premier Matteo Renzi told the Lower House on Wednesday the government is weighing intervention in scandal-plagued steelmaker ILVA, which has threatened to shed jobs and even close over the massive costs of an environmental cleanup at its plant in the southern port city of Taranto.
    "We are considering the possibility of a public intervention for a set period of time, that would tackle the environmental issues" and set the plant back on its feet, Renzi told lawmakers.
    The government would only step in until what is Europe's largest steel producer is "ready to go back to the market...and become a leading European firm," the premier said.
    Renzi added the government will consider "all kinds of solutions, from national and international private investments to a public intervention". In an interview on Sunday with La Repubblica, Renzi said that if the government did take on ILVA, it would hold Europe's largest steel producer for only "two or three years, defend employment, protect the environment, and then relaunch it on the market".
    ILVA, which has employed as many as 16,000, was placed under special administration by the Italian government in 2013 and in October, the European Commission gave Italy two months to deal with the longstanding health and environment problems at its plant.
    If it fails, it risks seeing the case referred to the European Court of Justice, the EC warned.