State aid for Italian stainless steel company The European Commission has approved State aid for the Italian Dalmine company, which manufactures stainless steel tubes. The aid, consisting of saving interests on a 15-year loan, will amount to ECU 9.6 million. The State aid is granted to a project which aims at developing ... The European Commission has approved State aid for the Italian Dalmine company, which manufactures stainless steel tubes. The aid, consisting of saving interests on a 15-year loan, will amount to ECU 9.6 million. The State aid is granted to a project which aims at developing and optimizing an integrated manufacturing technology for stainless steel tubular and relevant threaded connections, suitable for use in severe oil, gas and geothermal wells. It will complete prototype series and carry out inspections of the final products. As a general rule the Commission considers that the level of aid for basic industrial research should not be more than 50% of the gross costs of the project. As the activity being aided gets nearer to the market place, i.e. covers the areas of applied research and development, the Commission's examination and evaluation of the aid will look in principle for progressively lower levels of aid. In this present case the intensity of the aid is respected as the envisaged aid represents only 10% of the EC eligible costs. In addition the Commission came to the conclusion that the project will enable Dalmine to achieve new and better understanding of the laws of science and engineering, to establish new and substantially improved products.
