Steelmakers and trade unions insist on urgent protection of the EU steel industry

The European Steel Association (EUROFER) and IndustriAll Europe, the trade union federation, have issued a joint statement on the urgency of the EU Steel Action Plan.

The statement came ahead of a hearing in the European Parliament of Stéphane Sejourne, who was selected by EU President Ursula von der Leyen to be the European Commission’s Executive Vice President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy.

The parties have prepared a joint set of requirements for the EC and the bloc’s member states, which was supported by MEPs. They call for an EU Action Plan for the steel industry to restore the industry’s competitiveness, protect the environmental transition and jobs.

Sejourne is tasked with putting forward the EU Action Plan for Steel and Basic Metals. EUROFER and IndustriAll Europe insist that this plan should be weighty and published within the first 100 days of the new European Commission.

As Judith Kirton-Darling, Secretary General of IndustriAll Europe, reminded, the European steel sector is in crisis. The industry is dealing with production cuts, mothballing, closures and bankruptcies across Europe.

She noted that it is necessary to protect the EU market from cheap and high-carbon steel, as well as highly skilled jobs in the steel industry.

“Decarbonization should not lead to deindustrialization, and we need the EU to ensure a level playing field and a stable future for European steelmakers. Steel needs Europe and Europe needs steel,” she said.

Axel Eggert, Director General of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), added that not only the steel industry is at stake, but also Europe’s prosperity and resilience. Billions of European investments in decarbonization are at stake. At the same time, EU steelmakers have to bear energy costs that are 2-3 times higher than those of their main competitors in the US and China.

Eggert noted that the EU Steel Action Plan is needed now more than ever, including decisive measures ranging from trade to energy and green leading markets.

In addition, EUROFER and IndustriAll Europe call on the EU and the US to continue to work together after the US election to jointly address global challenges such as overcapacity and unfair trade practices.

On October 23, the European Parliament discussed the crisis in the steel industry during a plenary debate. In particular, they discussed the global overcapacity of steelmaking capacity, the role of Chinese exports, the imperfection of EU trade defence instruments, high energy prices and CBAM issues.