"An interlocutory table" defined the governor of Liguria, Giovanni Toti, leaving the meeting on Ilva held at the Mise in which ArcelorMittal presented its improvement proposal on Ilva to the other 61 participants. A "crowded" summit, perhaps too crowded according to some, which in addition to the designated buyer and Luigi Di Maio, saw the presence of trade unions and local associations, for a total of 62 subjects involved.
During the post-summit press conference, the Minister of Economic Development and Labor returned to the peve holemics relating precisely to today's overcrowding, speaking of a "change of method" and sparing no poisonous barbs at his predecessor, Carlo Calenda, "who signed the contracts without even telling the unions". The government, says Di Maio, “is in no hurry to assign Ilva to the first buyer that passes by. I asked for improvements on the environmental and employment aspects, and for me they are still not enough".
Carlo Calenda's reply via Twitter was ready: “They seem to me to be important improvements, obviously within the limits of feasibility. Luigi Di Maio while you bring the papers to the prosecutor's office, you get the 12th opinion, you consult all the associations of the terraqueous world, you also make a decision. We pay you for this,” writes the former development minister.
THE NEW PROPOSAL FROM ARCELORMITTAL
As expected, the majority shareholder of the consortium Am Investco Italy, which was awarded the Ilva assets, presented its improvement proposal. There are two "hot" fronts in this addendum: environment and employment.
As regards the first issue, ArcelorMittal plans to reduce CO15 emissions per ton of liquid steel by 2023% by 2, while dust will be eliminated by 2020, a year and a half ahead of the provisions of the Dpcm of December 2017.
The anticipated completion of the works for the coverage of the raw materials stocks, the use of low carbon technologies and the end of the wind days are also envisaged.
Arcelor also undertakes to “maintain the production of the integrated cycle steel plant at a level not exceeding 8 million tons of liquid steel per year. There is also the possibility of further increasing this production level through the use, for the creation of additional production volumes, of production processes with a low use of coal (such as production processes based on natural gas), once the relative conditions have been verified technical and economic sustainability".
From an employment point of view, ArcelorMittal instead asked for a direct confrontation with the unions. A face to face, underlines Di Maio, that “we have never prevented. In the next few hours we will promote the meeting, I think the company and the unions will see each other tomorrow”. However, the obligation to apply the provisions envisaged by the legislative decree of last October 2002 to the payments due to suppliers of the related activities and the commitment to pay the debts assigned within the relevant deadline or, if said term has already expired on the date of execution, within 30 days of the same date.
THE RELIEVES OF THE ANAC
As for the procedure for awarding the tender, Di Maio explained that he had asked the State Attorney's Office for an opinion: “If it emerges that the previous government made a mistake in the tender, it will have to take responsibility for it. If there are findings and critical issues, crimes committed, I will take all the papers to the prosecutor's office".
THE COMMENT OF THE UNIONS
“The meeting was a summer happening, after the umpteenth illustration, the minister was given one minute each only for technical questions, with limited times until 12, the minister provided his ministerial email for considerations and questions. An inconclusive method that has the sole objective of lengthening the time”. This was stated by the general secretary of Fim Cisl Marco Bentivogli after the meeting on Ilva: “Nothing has been said with respect to the employment and industrial plan, for us the environmental plan and the employment plan go hand in hand and for this reason it is necessary to reopen the negotiations immediately. Time passes and the country, in defiance of the sovereign declarations made on TV against Germany, continues to import steel from the Germans. 'The government is in no hurry – says Bentivogli repeating a phrase from Di Maio – but the workers and industry are, especially 14 months after the tender. If it has the extremes, cancel it, otherwise go ahead quickly. Even today he hasn't clarified at the table what he wants to do, we have to decide ”.
