Cabinet keeps talking to Tata Steel despite prosecution

The cabinet is for now not ending its Joint Letter of Intent (JLoI) with Tata Steel, even though the Public Prosecution Service (OM) has summoned Tata Steel IJmuiden B.V. to court. It says so in written answers to PvdD MP Kostić, who asked about a tailor-made agreement (maatwerkafspraak) involving about €2 billion in public money.

The charges include deliberately and unlawfully releasing harmful substances, breaching the duty of care, operating without a permit and failing to report incidents involving raw coke. Asked whether it remembers the decision to summon the company, the cabinet answers: "Yes."

In its letter to parliament of 25 September, the cabinet said it had chosen for now not to terminate the JLoI on these grounds. Until the final agreement is signed, it says, it will keep weighing whether there are concerns about entering into it. It believes concluding the agreement is worth more to society, for climate, health and the economy, than not concluding it.

The agreement is meant to commit the company to go beyond legal requirements on CO2 reduction and on improving the living environment for the health of local residents.

The cabinet says that, before the agreement is concluded, it is important to be confident that the company is changing its culture and will honour the agreement, so that the intended climate gains and improvements to the living environment are actually achieved.

Under article 12.4 of the JLoI, Tata Steel must change its culture and improve control and compliance in its operations. Tata Steel Nederland must submit a plan to the State, and the plan will be assessed externally. The cabinet says it is holding intensive talks with the company on this.

Kostić submitted the questions on 28 August and asked whether it is normal to give €2 billion of public money to a company that is being prosecuted. The climate minister and two state secretaries signed the answers.