The European Commission has scheduled the release of its Steel and Metals Action Plan for 19 March. This comes as it held the first Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the European Steel sector on Tuesday, charting the way to helping steelmakers decarbonise while remaining competitive, it says.
Among the participants during the meeting were representatives of ArcelorMittal, Celsa, EUROMETAL, Eurofer, Feralpi, IndustriAll, Outokumpu, Riva-Stahl, Salzgitter, Stegra, Tata Steel Europe and ThyssenKrupp, as well as EURIC, ACEA and WindEurope, Kallanish notes.
“Our European Union was built on a community of coal and steel,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after chairing the meeting. “Steel is everywhere, from wind power to defence. But European steelmakers are at a crossroads, facing the challenges of necessary decarbonisation and partly unfair global competition. Today’s Dialogue is to lead to a tailored plan to help this sector decarbonise and thrive globally. We join forces to make a strong business case for steel made in Europe.”
“The steel industry is under great pressure,” a Commission note states. Production costs have increased due to high energy prices, while product prices have dropped due to increasing global non-market overcapacity and decreased demand. Consequently, the sector has not been able to invest in clean steel, which is needed for the decarbonisation of industry, the Commission adds.
Following the meeting, Eurofer director general Axel Eggert said the association is “grateful that the Commission – at the very highest level – not only recognises these challenges but wants to work with our industry to find the right solutions.” He added: “We’re looking forward to seeing these solutions reflected in proposals and legislation, starting with the forthcoming Steel Action Plan and the revision of the EU steel safeguards by 1 April.”
“Building on the positive momentum from today’s Strategic Dialogue, we call on EU policymakers to stand up for European steel and rise to the historical challenge of preserving a strategic sector for Europe’s future and a key pillar of the European project,” he continued.
The outcome of the industry dialogue will feed into the Steel and Metals Action Plan, which will indicate additional sector-specific priority actions as well as long-term measures to replace safeguard measures expiring in June 2026.
The Plan will address a broad range of issues relevant for the sector, such as ensuring that clean steel production is commercially viable; agreeing on how to best respond to the “unfair and unjustified” trading practices; and identifying long-term measures that could best replace current safeguard measures, the Commission observes.
The meeting follows the publishing last week of the Commission’s Clean Industrial Deal.
