Crisis in the steel sector in Terni

2.2.2004

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0356/04
by Pasqualina Napoletano (PSE), Giorgio Ruffolo (PSE), Guido Sacconi (PSE) and Walter Veltroni (PSE)
to the Commission

The company Thyssen Krupp (TK) recently presented its technical schedule, which indicates its decision to close the AST's electrical steel department in Terni, Italy, entailing the loss of 900 jobs in the area concerned. Electrical steel is of decisive importance for the overall equilibrium of the Terni steelworks, in terms of production arrangements and synergies and the implications for employment; furthermore, TK promised to make Terni the European centre of excellence for grain-oriented electrical steel. The plant is one of the company's European sites with the lowest product unit costs and there has been enormous public investment, including Community funding linked to the Objective 2 contract and the ESF, in developing local systems, infrastructure and vocational training, from which AST/TK has benefited both directly and indirectly.

 

Does the Commission intend to promote immediate moves to prevent the closure of the electrical steel department of TK's plant in Terni?

 

Does it intend to adopt a more decisive strategy to tackle industrial restructuring and its social impact, in order to prevent adverse repercussions not only on employment and working conditions, but also on regional planning?