Ahead of the hearing in the European Parliament during which Commissioner-Designate Stéphane Séjourné will speak regarding the EU Steel and Basic Metals Action Plan, the European Steel Association (EUROFER) has released a joint statement with trade union IndustriAll Europe, outlining the urgent need for an EU Steel Action Plan to restore the steel industry’s competitiveness and to save its green transition as well as steelworkers’ jobs across Europe. EUROFER and IndustriAll Europe have produced a joint set of demands for the European Commission.
According to the joint statement, the European Commission and EU member states have been called on to take action to strengthen and ensure an assertive enforcement of the EU trade defence instruments and a more robust tariffication regime to address the spill-over impact of worsening global steel excess capacity; monitor and introduce measures to ensure that CBAM works in practice and that there is no circumvention or resource shuffling; adopt measures that transfer the cost-efficient benefits of renewable and low-carbon electricity to consumers; introduce a policy to create lead markets for green steel made in Europe; increase support for investment in the transition to green steel; take action to secure access to critical raw materials for steelmaking, including steel scrap; and support strong social policy for good industrial jobs in Europe, including an EU Directive on Just Transition.
“Billions of our investments in decarbonisation are at risk, while we have to bear energy costs that are two-three times higher than those of our main competitors in the US and China. Now more than ever, we need an EU Steel Action Plan, including with robust measures from trade to energy and green lead markets to ensure European steel’s viability. Following the elections in the US, the European social partners call on the EU and the US to continue working together to jointly tackle global challenges such as third country-driven, massive steel overcapacity and unfair trade practices that harm both sides,” Axel Eggert, director general of EUROFER, said.