The Belgian Federation of Metal Distributors (Belmetal) has stressed that the competitiveness of European industry should not be assessed solely through steel production, calling for the entire value chain to be taken into account in European industrial policy.
Belmetal met with Member of the European Parliament Benoît Cassart at the European Parliament as part of the European Convoy for Industrial Competitiveness, organized by EUROMETAL. The meeting focused on the competitiveness of European industry and the conditions faced by companies operating in the metal sector.
The federation stated that metal distributors are at the heart of Europe’s industrial value chain and are directly exposed to the impact of European regulations, trade measures and international competition.
Warning against limiting measures to primary steel
Belmetal stressed that European industrial policy should take the entire value chain into account. According to the federation, if measures implemented by the EU are limited to primary steel, there is a risk that competitive pressure will shift towards steel-intensive processed and finished products.
For this reason, Belmetal called for a coherent European industrial policy that strengthens the entire value chain rather than relying on isolated measures.
Following the meeting, the federation thanked Benoît Cassart for his open and constructive exchange of views and his approach to bringing the voice of companies operating on the ground into European policy discussions.
Belmetal stressed that competitiveness is shaped not only by policy debates but also by the day-to-day activities of companies.
