EC APPROVES PAST PAYMENTS TO ITALIAN DOCKERS

EC APPROVES PAST PAYMENTS TO ITALIAN DOCKERS    The European Commission has approved financial aid of 566 million euro (about $500 million) paid by the Italian authorities to Italian port workers between 1992 and 1998.
   The aid was part of labor restructuring programs affecting Italian port workers. The Italian port sector was liberalized in 1991 and the authorities subsequently paid substantial payments to implement the port reform and end monopolistic practices.
   The EC said that 120 million euro of the 566-million-euro total financed welfare programs during a transition period. The balance of 446 million euro was used to pay for the early retirement of 18,000 workers.
   However, the EC has ruled that payments worth more than 131 million euro (about $115 million) paid to cover the operating deficits of port companies
in 54 Italian ports contravened European laws.
   “This aid must be recovered by the Italian government,” the EC said.