Steel, two weeks for EU rescue plan

Brussels – Two weeks to address critical challenges facing the European steel industry, from high production costs increased due to high energy prices to increasing global overcapacity, from falling demand to difficulties for the sector to decarbonise its production processes, against the backdrop of trade tariff announcements from the United States of America. It is the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of Europe’s Steel Sector that—launched today by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who convened key European industry leaders, social partners and stakeholders—will lead to the formulation of an Action Plan for the sector, for which Executive Vice President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy Stéphane Séjourné was tasked to draft. “Our European Union was built on a coal and steel community,” von der Leyen recalled. “Steel is everywhere, from wind power to defence. However, European steel producers are at a crossroads, facing the challenges of necessary decarbonisation and partly unfair global competition. Today’s Dialogue must lead to a tailored plan to help this industry decarbonise and thrive globally. Let’s join forces to create a solid business case for steel produced in Europe,” she added.

More than 2.5 million jobs in the Union, about 500 production sites in 22 member states, a contribution of about €80 billion to EU GDP: These are the numbers of a sector considered essential to the EU economy and its strategic autonomy, providing essential inputs to critical sectors such as automotive, construction, defence, net-zero technologies, electric vehicles (EVs) and critical infrastructure, supporting entire industrial value chains. Numbers represented in the meeting attended by twenty-one organizations: Acea, Agora Industry, ArcelorMittal, Celsa Group, Eurometal, Euromines, Eurofer – European Steel Association, Euric, Espa – European Steel Processors Association, Feralpi, Fiec, GravitHy, IndustriAll, Outokumpo, Riva-Stahl, Salzgitter, Stegra, Tata Steel Europe, ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, WindEurope, Zeliziarne Podbrezova.

For Brussels, today’s first dialogue allowed the Commission and key players to begin charting the way forward. “Already with the Clean Industrial Deal adopted in February, the Commission has taken bold steps to help energy-intensive industries lower their energy costs and tackle global overcapacity,” the EU executive highlighted. However, the outcome of the dialogue will feed into a “Steel and Metals Action Plan that will set out further sector-specific priority actions as well as long-term measures to replace the trade defence safeguards expiring in June 2026.” More specifically, the Action Plan will address several issues relevant to the sector, such as “ensuring that clean steel production is commercially viable”, “agreeing on how best to respond to unfair and unjustified trade practices”, and “identifying long-term measures that could best replace current safeguard measures.”

“We are grateful that the Commission, at the highest level, not only recognises these challenges, but also wants to work with our industry to find the right solutions. We look forward to seeing these solutions reflected in proposals and legislation, starting with the forthcoming Steel Action Plan that has been announced for March 19 and the review of EU steel safeguards by April 1,” said Axel Eggert, director general of the European Steel Association (Eurofer) upon leaving the Dialogue. According to Eggert, the Action Plan will not contain “all the details. Still, indications of the direction in which Europe is going on steel will be visible.” And in that document, in his view, it will be necessary to see six to seven measures. “First, address the spillover effects of global steel overcapacity on the European steel market. Second, make the carbon border adjustment measure (CBAM) work effectively and avoid loopholes. Third, mitigate the huge impact of energy prices on energy-intensive industries. Fourth, look at how we can better use scrap within the EU’s borders, since it is exported today. Fifth, have lead markets for green steel. Six support investments, for example, the Decarbonisation Bank. And the seventh point is, of course, the fact that we need quality jobs,” he explained—the answer, on March 19.