The EC is ready to support European industry as a whole – EUROFER

An emergency social summit on steel demonstrated the European Commission’s firm commitment to supporting not only the European steel industry, but industry as a whole. This was stated by Henrik Adam, President of the European Steel Association (EUROFER).

According to him, Europe should not be naive.

«Steel-producing countries outside the EU have a strategic understanding: if they control steel supplies, they will eventually control the industry. We in Europe need to think strategically and act accordingly,» explained the EUROFER president.

One of the key issues for representatives of the metallurgical industry is the implementation of the European Action Plan for Steel and Metals.

As noted by EUROFER CEO Axel Eggert, EC Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy Stéphane Séjourné assured metallurgists that next week the European Commission will present a proposal that will support the European metallurgical industry and should lead to better capacity utilization and the preservation of hundreds of thousands of quality jobs.

“The current precautionary measures are not working. We must introduce measures that support the sustainable use of 80% or more of the European steel industry’s capacity, as provided for in the Action Plan for Steel and Metallurgy,” he added.

IndustriAll Europe General Secretary Judith Kirton-Darling noted that 18,000 workers were laid off in the steel industry last year, so truly proactive action is needed from the EU to effectively protect the sector.

The summit, organized by the industry association in conjunction with the industriAll Europe trade union, brought together CEOs of European steel producers and representatives of workers in the sector.

It should be recalled that European steelmakers are again asking the EU to take immediate action to support the industry. industriAll Europe and EUROFER have called on the EC, the European Parliament, and member states to take a number of steps to restore the industry’s competitiveness.