Europe’s steel industry is urging the EU to introduce stricter rules of origin in the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, warning that without such measures, public procurement and support schemes could end up funding foreign steel imports rather than domestic production.
The legislation must define Union-origin steel as material melted and poured within the EU to ensure decarbonization investments genuinely support European steelmakers, according to Eurofer, the European Steel Association. Under current drafting, products labeled “Made in EU” could include steel produced outside the bloc and only processed within Europe, the industry body said.
“If Europe wants to decarbonize its steel industry, it must create demand for low-carbon steel made in Europe,” Axel Eggert, director general of Eurofer, said. “Otherwise, the EU risks funding foreign production while weakening investment, jobs and industrial capacity at home.”
The warning comes as the European Commission pushes ahead with the Industrial Accelerator Act, which aims to expedite industrial decarbonization and increase manufacturing contribution to at least 20% of EU gross domestic product. A central plank of the legislation is the creation of lead markets for low-carbon steel across sectors, including automotive, defense and construction.
This is not the first time the association has called for strict labeling; this time, it has set out more details with its paper.
Origin concerns
Eurofer’s concerns center on the lack of robust Union-origin requirements in the current proposal. The steel body said more than 75% of EU steel imports come from free trade agreement partners, meaning products from nearly 80 countries could qualify for EU support schemes despite not facing comparable carbon costs.
This would leave the European steel industry at a distinct disadvantage, Eurofer said. In a separate paper published on May 6, the association is also calling for a single, clear definition of Union origin — based on steel that is melted and poured in the EU — to ensure that public procurement and support schemes genuinely prioritize European production and prevent circumvention and market confusion.
In the paper, Eurofer also called for greater ambition in public procurement and support schemes, urging minimum shares of at least 50% low-carbon Union-origin steel applied to 100% of support scheme budget allocations. The requirements should extend to Net-Zero Industry Act technologies and strategic components, it said.
The steel body warned that without these improvements, the Industrial Accelerator Act risks shifting emissions and investment abroad rather than anchoring them in Europe, weakening both industrial competitiveness and the EU’s strategic autonomy.
Other recommendations include swift implementation of low-carbon steel labeling to support transparent lead markets, flexible designation of acceleration areas to cover geographically dispersed industrial sites, and inclusion of strategic sectors such as wind energy and electrical steel components in foreign direct investment screening.
Eurofer said the energy-intensive industry definition should not be conditional on being located in an acceleration area.
Author: Annalisa Villa
