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| EUROMETAL |
High-Level Meeting to Address Competitiveness, Decarbonization, and Trade Policies
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will host a Strategic Dialogue on Steel on 4 March, underscoring the sector's critical role in the EU’s strategic autonomy. The meeting will gather steel manufacturers, raw material suppliers, off-takers, and representatives from social and civil society groups, with EUROMETAL President Alexander Julius participating.
The dialogue precedes the upcoming Steel and Metals Action plan, which Executive Vice-President Séjourné is set to deliver in the spring. Insights from the meeting will shape this dedicated strategy.
Steel's Role in Europe's Industrial and Environmental Goals
“The steel industry is a key sector of our European single market. At the same time, this industry is of utmost importance in our fight against climate change,” von der Leyen stated. “The Strategic Dialogue will help develop a concrete Action Plan to tackle the unique challenges of this sector in the clean industrial transition. We want to ensure that the European steel industry is both competitive and sustainable in the long term.”
Séjourné added, “Europe has a plan for its industry: we must produce more, we must produce clean, and we must produce European. This starts with our most strategic sectors: steel is one of them. We must protect our steel sector from unfair foreign competition and boost our own production of clean European steel.”
Key Discussion Points and Policy Proposals
The dialogue will focus on enhancing competitiveness, circularity, decarbonization, electrification, fair trade relations, and ensuring a level playing field globally. The European Commission will consult with the Council and European Parliament throughout the process.
Proposed measures include:
- Joint raw material purchasing to diversify supply chains.
- A Circular Economy Act to encourage the use of secondary scrap material in manufacturing.
- Financial guarantees and risk reduction instruments to accelerate long-term power purchase agreements and hydrogen adoption.
- A dedicated financing mechanism for industrial decarbonization, using an auctions-as-a-service model.
On the foreign trade front, global steel overcapacity is projected to reach 630 million tonnes by 2026, raising concerns about excess steel flooding the European market. The Commission aims to enhance the use of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties to prevent unfair trade practices.
Additionally, the EU’s safeguard measures on steel, set to expire by June 2026, will be reevaluated to develop a long-term solution against non-market-driven overcapacity.
