European Steel and Metals Action Plan: EU Commission sends a clear signal – now it must be implemented!
Berlin, 19 March 2025 | The European Commission presented the European Steel and Metals Action Plan today. The aim: to secure the competitiveness of the steel industry in Germany and Europe—especially with regard to the transformation to climate neutrality.
Kerstin Maria Rippel, Director General of the German Steel Association, comments: “Today, the EU Commission has sent a clear signal in favour of maintaining the competitiveness of the EU steel industry. The rapid response—from the strategic dialogue with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen two weeks ago to the publication of the action plan—shows that Brussels has recognised the seriousness of the situation.”
One focus is on external trade policy, as a consequent response to the enormous increase in cheap imports from the Far East. Import pressure on the EU market—particularly from countries in the Asian economic area—has almost tripled in the last ten years. One in three tonnes of steel in the EU now comes from third countries. The steel tariffs introduced by the US administration threaten to further increase trade diversion into the open EU market.
The proposals on external trade are a step in the right direction, and in view of the increasing import pressure and the consequences of the confrontational US trade policy, the tightening of the EU’s protective measures from 1 April 2025 is only logical. Further measures must now be taken without delay. These include the strengthening of the EU safeguard measures that expire in 2026, an effective successor instrument and the long overdue adjustments to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Three measures are essential for the CBAM:
- an effective export solution,
- the extension of the instrument to products in downstream value chains
- and the prevention of circumvention.
This is the only way to protect the energy-intensive steel industry from carbon leakage. These measures are essential to maintain a strong and competitive steel industry in Europe”.
In other areas, such as energy prices and the development of lead markets for low-emission basic materials, the Action Plan also points in the right direction, but needs to be further specified. Rippel comments: “Energy costs, which are still too high, remain a major challenge for our businesses. Although the Action Plan provides some relief, it still lacks a concrete concept for a competitive industrial electricity price. The planned development of lead markets for climate-friendly steel must now be specified. The Low Emission Steel Standard (LESS), which was co-developed by the German Steel Association, can and should play a key role here–to secure Europe’s leadership in setting standards for low-emission steel”.
Finally, the association’s Director General appeals to decision-makers in Brussels and Berlin: “We now have a roadmap for achieving competitive carbon neutrality in the European steel industry. It is now crucial that it is implemented quickly and consistently in Brussels, Berlin and the federal states. Otherwise, we will lose touch to other regions in the world that are ahead of us”.
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