Federacciai: EU policy killing industry, aid disadvantages Italy

If EU policymakers do not quickly change their approach, they will be responsible for the continent’s industrial erosion, Federacciai president Antonio Gozzi warned at the Italian steelmakers association’s annual meeting held at this week’s Made in Steel tradeshow in Milan.

In recent years, EU policy on industry has been gloomy and marked by a lack of effective and unifying measures. Gozzi urges collaboration, unity and, above all, equal aid to all member states, also in view of future decarbonisation challenges.

“A Europe entirely focused on finance, on fiscal policies, on climate change and digitisation of the economy seems to lack attention and passion for the manufacturing industry,” he said at the event attended by Kallanish. “[This reflects] a so-called ‘Nordic’ approach based on countries without any industry, which import everything and only focus on tackling climate change.”

Gozzi underlined European difficulties in adopting a common energy policy, which has led individual states to take measures to support domestic enterprises. Such measures have penalised Italian companies that are paying more for electricity than their French, Spanish and German competitors, he added.

This adds to the enormous amount of state aid authorised in 2021 and 2022 by the European Commission, more than €750 billion ($819 billion) in a two-year period. Over 50% of this went to German companies, more than 25% to French companies and only 7.5% to Italian firms, Gozzi pointed out, adding that this approach will create distortions.

“We trust that the new Parliament and the new Commission that European citizens will elect in 2024 take note of the mistakes made, correct the shot, understand the need to defend the European industry and to support it as a common good in the great challenges of the new millennium,” Gozzi concluded.

Natalia Capra France