Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Prime Minister, when he last discussed the issue of state aid for the UK steel industry with (a) the President of the European Commission, (b) the Presidency of the European Council and (c) other EU member state governments.

Mr David Cameron

I have raised the issues facing the steel industry with my counterparts, including most recently with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, which currently holds the EU Presidency.

The Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills is also engaged with the European Commission and our European partners. He has spoken with a number of European Commissioners in Brussels; Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom (Trade), Commissioner Elsbieta Bienkowska (Internal Market) and Vice President Jyrki Katainen (Jobs and Competitiveness), and stressed the importance of this issue. He has had positive talks with the Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on progressing the approval of the UK’s Energy Intensive Industries compensation scheme.

In addition, the Secretary of State has raised the issue with his EU counterparts, including those in Luxembourg, France, Italy and Spain. He called for an urgent EU Council meeting on steel, and I am pleased that the Luxembourg Presidency has scheduled a Competitiveness Council on 9 November specifically to discuss the EU steel industry.