Funding for the former Ilva arrives: final go-ahead from the Chamber of Deputies for the decree

The Chamber of Deputies gave the final go-ahead to the former Ilva decree. The yes vote was 136, the no vote 96, 4 abstained. The decree-law was given the green disk in the text that had been approved in the Senate, where an amendment by the rapporteur agreed with the government was inserted that authorises Acciaierie d'Italia (the former Ilva) to use the 108 million residual transferred from Ilva in extraordinary administration (92 million have already been used) to ensure the continuity of operations of the plants. An amendment introduced in the Commission has provided for the possibility of further financing of up to EUR 149 million for 2026 in favour of Ilva if the sale procedure to third parties is not concluded by 30 January 2026, again with the aim of allowing the continuation of production activity. Ilva itself will be able to transfer the sum to Acciaierie d'Italia. As said by the rapporteur, Salvo Pogliese (FdI), this is the eighth regulatory intervention launched by the Meloni government on the former Ilva plant in Taranto, with total resources of one billion 189 million.

The allocation will be decided by decree of the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, in agreement with the Minister of Economy. The request will be "put forward by the commissioner's body on the basis of a transitional management plan correlated to the state and timing of the conclusion of the procedure for the sale of the company assets". Ilva Spa in extraordinary administration may 'proceed directly to the use of the resources or transfer them, at the request of the commissioner's body, to Acciaierie d'Italia Spa in extraordinary administration'. The measure also specifies how the loan is to be disbursed (in accordance with the Commission Communication on the revision of the method for setting the reference and discount rates 2008/C 14/02, applying the reference rate increased by 400 basis points) and repaid (within six months of disbursement, from the proceeds of the sale of the business compendium to third parties and with joint and several liability of the company receiving the compendium in the event of insufficient resources). The provision also specifies that the loan may not be disbursed until it has been authorised by the European Commission.

Among other measures of the measure, with an amendment introduced in the Senate, it was decided to postpone by one year (from the three-year period 2025-2027 to the three-year period 2026-2028) the period for benefiting from the resources for the induced activities through the ad hoc Mimit fund, which has an endowment of 1 million for each year of the three-year period.

Article 3 of the decree specifies that companies of strategic national interest, in extraordinary non-liquidation administration, admitted to the programme for the sale of company complexes, are not to be considered in a state of difficulty and can access the incentives of the Fund for Industrial Energy Transition. In the Senate Commission, on the other hand, the possibility for these companies to have access to compensation for the lack of access to the incentives provided to cope with the high cost of energy, and the related allocation of about EUR 29 million in the two-year period 2025-2026, had been removed. Article 4 provides for an appropriation of EUR 8.6 million in 2025 and EUR 11.4 million in 2026 in favour of the company Acciaierie d'Italia in extraordinary administration for the integration of the measure of the extraordinary wage supplementation received (also for the purpose of vocational training for the management of reclamation) in the years 2025 and 2026 by employees of the relevant production plants.