Among the items in the October Budget were proposals for a tax incentive scheme to facilitate the removal and relocation of certain industrial facilities which hinder the regeneration of Docklands. This was flagged as being subject to EU approval, but it seems that the EU is already uncomfortable about the notion.

In a written response to a Parliamentary Question on the matter last month, the Minister for Finance said:

“In my Budget speech on 14 October, I announced the introduction of a new tax incentive scheme to facilitate the relocation of Seveso-listed industrial facilities which hinder the residential and commercial regeneration of Docklands in urban areas. The EU Seveso Directive seeks to protect public safety by placing land-use restrictions on new residential and commercial development near locations where potentially dangerous activities are undertaken. The Deputy will also be aware that I indicated in my speech that this scheme will be subject to clearance by the European Commission from a State Aids perspective.

In discussions which have been held between officials and the EU Commission about the regeneration of urban docklands, the Commission has indicated that the use of tax incentives to facilitate the remediation of sites vacated by Seveso-type industrial facilities for any future residential and commercial use will not pass the EU State Aid rules because of the ‘polluter pays principle’. This ensures that an industry that creates a pollution incident (or in this case, which undertakes the land-use that has damaged a particular location) must bear the cost of remediating the property back to a pre-pollution/pre-damage, land-use basis.”