EU environment protection legislation could harm Europe’s industry, Romanian PM says

Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu told his Bavarian counterpart, Gunther Beckstein, the communitarian legislation concerning environment protection will determine investors to focus on countries outside EU, this having both social and economic consequences.

The official noted the promoted environment settlements must not determine investors to transfer industrial capacities in areas where such rules do not exist. Tariceanu emphasized the communitarian legislation must solve environment issues and give industrial activities a chance to survive.

The PM’s statements come after a meeting held yesterday’s in Austria’s Linz, with the representative’s of the country’s largest steel maker Voestalpine. The two parties talked about Voestalpine’s plans for constructing a steel plant at the Black Sea.

Both Tariceanu and Voestalpine agreed the EU laws on environment protection could become a problem for the construction of the steel plant.

Wolfgang Eder, Voestalpine’s executive manager, noted the location of the steel plant will be chosen by taking into account the infrastructure, logistics, maritime transport, the qualified personnel and the land. The official noted the granting of state subsidies will make a difference.

The difference between Bulgaria’s 10 percent flat tax and Romania’s 16 percent flat tax is not really an issue, Eder noted, as this is an important yet not a decisive matter.

Tariceanu said the Cabinet is paying much attention to this project as it would create jobs and will have a strong impact over the Romanian economy.

Voestalpine wants to pump some 7 billion euros in a steel plant located at the Black Sea and Romania, together with Bulgaria, is in the race for attracting these investments, according to the daily Der Standard.

Ukraine is also in the cards, with its Pivdennyi harbor in Odessa. The Bulgarians are trying to lure the Austrians near Belene, where Russia would construct a nuclear plant that will function starting with 2013.

The Austrian steel maker wants to cover 5.4 million tons of steel of the 50 million tons needed in the Black Sea region, in the next ten years, according to market studies.

The future steel plant will be the largest in the Balkans, exceeding Bulgaria’s Kremikovtzi and US Steel in Serbia. Both have an annual production capacity of 2 million tons. ArcelorMittal Galati, Romania’s largest steel plant, has an annual production capacity of 4.7 million tons per year.

Prime Minister Tariceanu will visit the BMW factory in Germany and will take part at the Romanian-German forum for Small and Medium Companies, hosted by the Munich Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Germany is Romania’s main trade partner, with a volume of 9.9 billion euros in trade and the third country concerning the invested capital in Romania. Some 16,000 companies with German share capital were registered last year in Romania.

NewsIn