Following the call made by the European Commission (EC) for a meeting on December 4 convening the 14 largest steel producing EU member states, the CEOs of the major European steelmakers, representatives of the European Parliament, and the trade unions to discuss measures to preserve the sector's global competitiveness, the European Steel Association (EUROFER) welcomes the acknowledgement made by the EC and the EU governments that steel production in Europe is essential for the EU's economy and prosperity.
"However, the real emergency in terms of policy is the climate and energy policy in Europe. We need realistic policies and solutions to decrease the gap in energy prices and costs between the EU and its main competitors." said Gordon Moffat, EUROFER director general.
According to EUROFER, the share of regulatory costs in the EU steel industry's profit margins has already reached a dangerous level. A study of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) on EU regulatory cumulative costs for the steel industry has revealed that regulatory costs already today represent a huge share of the EBITDA of EU steelmakers of up to 30 percent in "normal good years" and 30 percent to over 100 percent in years of economic crisis.
EUROFER is in particular concerned about unilateral EU measures in the fields of energy, climate and environment, driving costs of industry in times of economic crisis. Moffat commented "The European steel industry is not against ambitious climate objectives. But we need certainty now that our most carbon lean steel installations, which are the best performers worldwide, will have no additional costs from that policy until such costs are also being borne by our global competitors."
