Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many times in the past 12 months (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have raised the issue of state aid clearance for the steel sector with the European Commission.

Anna Soubry

The state aid rules on giving rescue and restructuring aid to steel companies are clear and all such interventions are prohibited. Officials have been in regular communication with the Commission to progress our application for the broader support package for energy-intensive industries including steel, and the Secretary of State will be raising this with the Competition Commissioner at the earliest opportunity.