A new version of the European Union’s Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) draft has German steel players agitated, because it suggests that green steel could be sourced outside the EU.
Reports by Handelsblatt and Spiegel say that they have received a draft that no longer includes steel in the annex of materials or services that must be sourced in the European Union for public tenders. The draft does include the requirement of “green/low-emission steel”, but not the obligation to buy it locally.
In a social media post, seen by Kallanish, thyssenkrupp Steel, head of European affairs Julian Schorpp expressed concern, asking “is the EU about to undermine its own Clean Industrial Deal?”.
The latest leak contradicts the core logic of the Clean Industrial Deal itself to accelerate decarbonisation in Europe by strengthening demand for clean products manufactured in the EU, Schorpp writes.
He points at the investments on the way by EU mills in the interest of a technical transition. “Lead markets that stimulate consumption without strengthening European production would weaken investment incentives, delay projects, and increase the risk that new low-carbon capacity is built outside the EU”.
The apparent new draft would agree with a requirement worded by German chancellor Friedrich Merz last week, which left Germany’s steel industry unamused.
Merz suggested that a rule like “Made in Europe” should be adjusted to “Made with Europe”, to allow international trade partners to supply green steel, too.
In a separate interview with Spiegel, Marie Jaroni, ceo of thyssenkrupp Steel, notes that such an adjustment would potentially invite 70 countries with which the EU holds trade partnerships.
Along the same lines, Schorpp also points at an effect an IAA draft without steel would have on importing. “CBAM, meanwhile, will incentivise foreign producers to channel their cleanest steel to the EU market,” he says.
