§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EC Industry Council of 17 December, indicating the voting record of each member state on each item and where no formal votes were taken.
§ Mr. Sainsbury[holding answer 11 January 1994]: The Industry Council on 17 December agreed a package of six steel state aid proposals in four member states—Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal—under article 95 of the ECSC treaty. These involve capacity reductions of 4.6 million tonnes and state aid of some 7 becu, and at the United Kingdom's insistence incorporate significant improvements to the original proposals. These include a tightening up of the detailed requirements for four of the cases—EKO Stahl, ILVA, CSI, Sidenor—more rigorous monitoring to ensure that conditions built into the individual cases are met—with a role for the Council as well as the Commission—and that the aid is used soley to facilitate restructuring and not to allow unfair pricing. There is explicit recognition that no further aid will be provided to these companies if viability is not achieved. A number of the proposals agreed involve privatisation of the companies concerned, which should help to ensure that future operations are carried out on a proper commercial basis.
This package of proposals was agreed unanimously as required under article 95 ECSC. This requirement for unanimity enabled us to secure significant improvements to the proposals discussed, but not agreed, at the 18 November Council.