A technical table between ministries, unions, and local administrations will start working as early as next week, probably Tuesday at Mimit, to see what alternatives are possible after the decree of the Milan Court of Appeal which on July 27 established that within 90 days the hot area activity of the Taranto steel plant must be stopped due to emissions of fine dust, PM 10 and PM 2.5, and the presence of asbestos.
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All unions, after today’s summit at Palazzo Chigi with the undersecretary to the presidency, Mantovano, and ministers Giorgetti (Economy), Urso (Enterprises) and Calderone (Labor), talk about an extraordinary plan to be shared between the Government, workers’ organizations, and local institutions. The plan will have to try to find solutions that combine the various aspects of the problem: the need to somehow save the former Ilva, the future of the workers, social safety nets and other support and coverage tools, and the new industrial projects needed to mitigate the cut that the steel factory will have anyway and that it would have had with the decarbonization of electric furnaces instead of blast furnaces.
Mantovano: no decision made, nor predetermined outcome
“There is no decision already made, nor any predetermined outcome. All work hypotheses will be examined without prejudice and without predefined choices,” summarizes undersecretary Mantovano at the end of the discussion. About the extraordinary plan urged in the meeting, Mantovano says that “in order for it not to remain a slogan but to translate into a concrete project, it is necessary to clearly define its assumptions, starting from a thorough technical assessment of the impacts of the Milan Court of Appeal decree. It is also necessary to verify the possibility of involving additional investors, starting with Italian ones, and jointly analyze all the additional investment hypotheses concerning Taranto, as well as the resources available to support such interventions. This also with a view to guaranteeing an employment future to those who, as a result of the situation, might lose their jobs. It is also necessary to strengthen – Mantovano continues – the involvement of territorial entities, in particular the Apulia Region and the Municipality of Taranto. The entire process must lead to the development of concrete proposals, starting from the contribution of the trade unions.”
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At the start of the meeting, the undersecretary to the presidency highlights that the Milan Court of Appeal decree “prohibits productive activities, therefore a decree suspending activities, not setting conditions to continue.”
Possible new tender only on the cold area
And later in the discussion, Mantovano says it is necessary to “recalibrate” the tender to sell the former Ilva on the cold area. This is interpreted as the need for a new tender for the former Ilva after the two already launched in July 2024 and August 2025, since a production reality composed of the hot area of Taranto and the cold areas of Taranto and other plants is no longer on the market, as the hot area is stopped within 90 days by the Milan judges, but only the individual cold areas.
