Government, unions and commissioners to meet on ILVA

Troubled steel plant must disclose business plan

(ANSA) - Rome, May 6 - Italian government officials, metalworker trade unions, and commissioners from Taranto's ill-fated ILVA steel plant will meet Wednesday at Palazzo Chigi to evaluate a business plan. The Audit Cour gave the green light to an environmental plan, expected to be published shortly, and within 30 days Taranto's commissioner must disclose a business plan.

ILVA has faced enormous problems in the past two years, leading to a decision by the Italian government to appoint a commissioner to take over management of the plant, the largest steel producer in Europe.

In April, the European Commission called on Italy to live up to promises it made in connection with ILVA and infraction procedures over the environmental-health scandal in the southern city of Taranto, sources said. The EC sent a letter outlining new directives on the plant, reported sources. The ILVA plant has been at the centre of a long-running judicial and political drama as courts have moved to force the company to make expensive environmental upgrades after more than a decade of polluting the area and creating health problems for workers and nearby residents.