The European Green Deal represents an “ideological and extremist” approach that has undermined the competitiveness of European businesses, to the detriment of economic, social, and environmental development, says Italian steelmakers’ association Federacciai president Antonio Gozzi. Rising global emissions continue to outweigh those reduced in Europe.
Even if all European industries were to suddenly stop production, global emissions would still continue to rise, as India, China, and the United States are not required to undertake costly decarbonisation efforts, he said at Monday’s association annual public assembly monitored by Kallanish.
Regulation imposed by the EU has been a major factor in the loss of competitiveness and market share of many sectors of European industry. The Green Deal has effectively supported China’s industries for solar panels, inverters, turbines and wind blades, energy storage systems and batteries, and electric vehicles, having now become the undisputed global leader in the production of these technologies. This has led to Europe becoming strategically dependent, Gozzi warns.
“I recall the simple yet powerful words spoken by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at last year’s Confindustria Assembly in Rome: if decarbonisation turns into industrial desertification, it is a disaster, because there is nothing green in a desert,” Gozzi said.
He highlighted that the carbon intensity of Italian steelmaking is 40% lower than the EU average and 61% lower than that of China, confirming Italy’s position as a European leader in sustainable steel production.
Gozzi reiterated the steel industry represents true Italian excellence and highlighted the distinction between the crisis of the former Ilva and that of the Italian steel sector as a whole. The association supports the government’s efforts to save Ilva but stresses that it is first necessary to create the enabling conditions that could convince one or more private steelmakers to take on the risk of Taranto. No Italian steelmaker has expressed interest in Taranto, as the conditions for investment are not yet in place and the local authorities are against saving the company.
As it is unlikely that Taranto will increase its production to 6 million tonnes/year, a social plan for workforce redundancies resulting from the downsizing of production levels is key to the steelworks’ survival. This should not be borne by private investors willing to invest, Gozzi added.
He also expressed doubt about the current state intervention, using substantial public resources, to facilitate a foreign investment in Piombino. This project, which also appears economically unsustainable due to its excessive level of debt, does not support the recovery of Taranto, as it competes directly with it and is entirely based on scrap, given that no investment in a direct reduced iron plant is planned.
Additional demand for 3m t/y of scrap in an already “tight” market risks becoming a major destabilising factor for the entire electric steel industry in Italy, Gozzi concluded.
Natalia Capra France
