Mr President, Commissioner, Europe cannot remain silent in the face of what is happening in one of the Union’s most important steel-making sites: without any prior notification the Thyssen Krupp Group has decided to halt the production of magnetic steel in the steel plants of Terni. This is an unwarranted action and betrays an agreement signed up to in 1994 during privatisation. As noted by you, Commissioner, the German company is preparing to sack hundreds of workers because it prefers to protect other European sites and invest outside the Union, in South Korea. Thanks to the intervention of the Italian Government – you mentioned, Commissioner, the intervention of Mr Marzano, the Minister for Productive Activities – and the extraordinary extent to which all the local institutions, citizens, parties and workers have mobilised themselves, Thyssen Krupp has decided to put off its decision to close the plant. The European Parliament and the Commission cannot, however, raise their voices to help solve a crisis which is not, Mr President, Commissioner, an Italian issue, but involves the whole of Europe. That is why we are asking that the Commission, when presenting the third report on economic and social cohesion on 18 February, clearly sets out its own proposals for protecting the industrial sector and, in particular, the iron and steel industry in the context of its new cohesion policy due to commence from 1 January 2007. I am also convinced that the Commission’s battle with the US in respect of market shares in steel production must be supported. I repeat that the problem does not concern only Italy, nor is it a purely incidental matter, but rather a general problem facing the steel industry in Europe. The crisis involves not just one company, but many and it seems to me that the Commission in comparison to the US it giving it its full attention. Indeed, we cannot adopt a carefree and superficial approach to such a sensitive issue on which the future of thousands and thousands of jobs, and therefore of thousands and thousands of families, hangs. As regards the Italian case of Terni, I am convinced that the Commission must intervene to deal with certain anomalies. The steelworks in Terni, in contrast to what was established in December 1994 by the commission for the control of concentrations, are currently owned exclusively by Thyssen Krupp, this being a clear example of a concentration: the group is currently the only producer of magnetic grain-oriented steel in Europe. Does not the Commission consider that this is potentially a distortion of competition? Furthermore, because of its activities in Italy, Thyssen Krupp has received Community aid on the grounds that Terni, where the steelworks are located, is a region in industrial decline that comes within Objective 2. Does the Commission not therefore consider that it should check whether the Community aid has been employed correctly by Thyssen Krupp? Next, does not the Commission consider that it should check whether Thyssen Krupp has received further State aid in breach of the competition rules? The investment in South Korea, announced yesterday, is a source of concern: I would not want European funds and possible funding provided by the German Government to be used not for boosting European economic growth, employment and development in Europe, but employed in South Korea, in the sole interests of one company which – I repeat – has not upheld the agreements it signed up to with Italy when privatisation took place. Thousands of workers are now waiting for the Commission to take action in order to ensure that the Union’s rules are observed. A few days ago I heard President Prodi and Commissioner Monti speak and even in what you said, Commissioner, I perceive a desire to move forward, to protect workers’ interests, to resolve a problem which – I repeat – is not limited geographically to Italy. I am convinced that the President of the Commission, after listening to the Thyssen Krupp management, will take decisive measures to intervene in the way that I hope so that the Commission may act collectively. The President of the Commission and all the Commissioners should continue in their present direction: they can count on Parliament’s support as demonstrated by the desire to reach a unified resolution on this sensitive and important issue, which I think will be adopted unanimously.

Political group: PPE-DE