French parliament moves towards nationalization of ArcelorMittal assets

On November 27, the French National Assembly (lower house of parliament) passed the first reading of a bill proposed by the LFI party on the nationalization of ArcelorMittal France, Le Monde reports.

The document received support from the left (LFI, Socialists, Greens, and Communists), while the National Rally (RN) abstained and the government camp voted against it.

The government has stated its disagreement with this move. At the same time, the future of the bill is uncertain, as it still has to pass the Senate, which already rejected a similar proposal put forward by the communists in October.

Aurélie Trouvé, the LFI deputy who introduced the bill, argues that ArcelorMittal France should be nationalized, and the document includes a mechanism for determining the cost of this step — €3 billion.

LFI (La France Insoumise) considers this to be the only solution to save the industry. The aim is also to counteract the job cuts announced in April and to resume the decarbonisation of blast furnaces.

At the same time, Industry Minister Sébastien Martin noted during the hearings that the law would weaken employment rather than protect it. According to him, the threat lies more in the surplus of Asian steel, and the answer lies in Brussels. The official recalled the EC’s proposal for new protective measures.

As ArcelorMittal France CEO Alain Le Grix de la Salle noted in a conversation with Franceinfo on the eve of the debate, nationalization will in no way solve the problems facing the company.

He stressed that ArcelorMittal’s French facilities are affected by global overcapacity and destructive imports, especially from Asia.

“We pay for CO2 as producers, while steelmakers in Southeast Asia do not. This is unfair competition,” Alain Le Grix de la Salle stressed.

He called on the EU to take more decisive action and said that the company is still waiting for the effective implementation of the cross-border carbon adjustment mechanism (CBAM).

As a reminder, Poland does not rule out the purchase of ArcelorMittal’s assets if the company exits the market. As noted in September, the government is closely monitoring the situation surrounding the metallurgical giant’s facilities. At the end of October, Polish Minister of State Assets Wojciech Balczun announced a meeting with ArcelorMittal representatives to discuss the company’s future in the country.