European convoy for industrial competitiveness
On 7 September 2026, industry from across Europe brought trucks, banners and ten symbolic coffins to the European Commission's Berlaymont headquarters, and handed policymakers one message: keep manufacturing in Europe. The demand has not changed.
Europe's industrial competitiveness is under increasing pressure
Manufacturers, steel distributors, service centres, traders, SMEs and workers across Europe face growing challenges that threaten investment, production, resilient supply chains and quality industrial jobs.
The European Convoy for Industrial Competitiveness brought together companies and organisations from across the industrial value chain to highlight the need for a policy framework that strengthens Europe's competitiveness, supports investment and safeguards industrial employment.
The convoy arrived in the European Quarter and representatives of European companies and associations carried ten symbolic coffins around the Berlaymont, representing the manufacturing capacity, jobs and industrial know-how that Europe risks losing if current trends continue.
EUROMETAL continues to invite companies, associations and all industrial stakeholders to add their name to this European initiative.
The day, and what it delivered
The convoy reached the Berlaymont
Trucks from across Europe took position in the European Quarter and sounded their horns together at midday, a wake-up call for Europe's manufacturing future.
Industry came in person
Companies, federations, workers and associations from across the value chain walked a silent procession around the Berlaymont carrying ten symbolic industrial coffins.
The message was delivered, and reported
The convoy's common demand was handed to a representative of the European Commission, and the day was reported in twenty-nine countries.
Why Europe's industry is taking a stand
The companies and federations joining the convoy have put their names to it in writing. These are their own words on what is at stake for European manufacturing, and why they are travelling to Brussels.
Hettich Management Service
Electromechanics Synergy Network
Electromechanics Synergy Network
Electromechanics Synergy Network
Electromechanics Synergy Network
Orange1
Orange1
Orange1
Orange1
CIELFFA
FVK — Fachvereinigung Kaltwalzwerke
European Organisation of the Sawmill Industry
Knauf Interfer
Gebr. Waasner
Gebr. Waasner
More statements are being added as they arrive. Supporting the convoy and want yours here? Send it to office@eurometal.net with your company mark.
We are not asking for subsidies or special treatment. We are asking for fair competition.
European manufacturers are investing to meet some of the world’s highest environmental and climate standards. At the same time, many imported manufactured products enter the European market without facing equivalent obligations. This creates an uneven playing field that puts European factories, investment and jobs at risk.
Our message is simple: if Europe wants to keep manufacturing, innovation and skilled jobs, it must ensure that the same principles apply across the entire manufacturing value chain. Keeping manufacturing in Europe is about preserving Europe’s prosperity, resilience and strategic autonomy.
The organisations that backed the convoy
Companies, federations and associations from across the European industrial value chain that put their name to the initiative. The list is still open.
Monday 7 September 2026, Brussels
The programme as it ran on the day.
European Commission — Berlaymont, Rue de la Loi 200, 1049 Brussels. Monday 7 September 2026, all day.
The convoy was covered in twenty-nine countries
Twenty-nine countries, twenty-one languages
The day was reported across Europe and beyond, from Belgium, Poland, Spain and Italy to Turkey, Ukraine, Taiwan and China.
Five news agencies
Belga, PAP, Anadolu Ajansi, AGI and EFE carried the story to their subscribers on the day.
The argument was answered
Within hours, state media outside Europe published rebuttals. The case made in Brussels was heard well beyond it.
Photographs and video from the convoy
Photographs and video from the European Convoy for Industrial Competitiveness are available in our media library. Journalists, members and partners may download and publish them for editorial use.
All photographs and video in the media library © IZICAST. Credit must be displayed with every use, in the caption or adjacent to the image, in the form: Photo: © IZICAST. For moving footage, use Video: © IZICAST.
The documents the convoy put on the record
The convoy is over. The case it made is not.
Steel-intensive imports still enter the European market without the trade, origin, carbon and regulatory obligations European manufacturers carry. Companies, federations and industrial stakeholders across the value chain can still add their name to the call.