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Call for urgent action to save the European steel industry and the livelihood of our workers
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Your Excellencies,
The European steel industry is an indispensable part of many key EU manufacturing value chains and stands for innovation, desired product solutions and high-quality jobs in Europe. We are committed to contribute to the EU’s ambitious decarbonisation and global climate protection objectives, securing a just transition and quality jobs.
However, we are at a crossroad: our industry is in its worst crisis since the financial and economic crisis in 2009. This is driven by the impact of global steel overcapacity and unfair trade, which exacerbates the impact of low steel demand and high energy prices in the EU. Without urgent measures, it will make it difficult in most of the EU member states to preserve a resilient and sustainable steel industry that can invest in our ambitious decarbonisation projects by 2030 and beyond.
Steel production in the EU has been shrinking by 30% since 2008 to 126 million tonnes in 2023. Restructuring and capacity reduction processes have led to a loss of almost 100,000 jobs in the last 15 years. Capacity utilisation has recently dropped to the lowest, unviable levels of around 60%. A trend that continues in 2024.
The Ministerial Meeting of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity (GFSEC) has just confirmed that global steel excess capacity (551 million tonnes in 2023) continues to be a rapidly growing structural problem. According to the OECD, additional 157 million tonnes of capacity are in progress by 2026, mainly using very carbon intensive conventional steelmaking technology.
A Steel Action Plan as part of the Clean Industrial Deal must include both, emergency measures and a structural solution to the disastrous impact of global overcapacity and unfair trade on the EU steel market, putting jobs and the clean transition at risk. Further undermining the EU’s competitiveness as well as our resilience and strategic autonomy would be a toxic option.
In line with the recommendations of the Draghi report, we therefore call upon you – the heads of state and government of the EU Member States – to support and endorse as a matter of urgency:
• Measures to strengthen and ensure assertive enforcement of the EU Trade Defense Instruments to stop unfair trade practices and circumvention, and a structural solution to comprehensively stop the spill-over impact of persisting and worsening global excess capacity. The current steel safeguards must be replaced by a more robust tariffication regime.
• Improvements to the Carbon Border Adjustment Measure (CBAM) to prevent circumvention, resource shuffling and delocalisation of downstream sectors, and to preserve EU steel exports.
• Action throughout the EU to reduce energy costs for energy intensive industries exposed to significant global competition, and to secure access to raw materials while retaining steel scrap within the EU.
• Establishment of lead markets to drive the demand for green steel in Europe.
We call upon the European Council to consider the above in its conclusions on 17/18 October 2024 and EU policy priorities.
Signatures:
Henrik Adam, President of EUROFER, CEO Tata Steel NH
Mario Arvedi Caldonazzo, Vice-President of EUROFER, CEO Arvedi
Geert Van Poelvoorde, Vice-President of EUROFER, CEO ArcelorMittal Europe
Timoteo Di Maulo, Vice-President of EUROFER, CEO Aperam
Lorenzo Riva, Vice-President of EUROFER, CEO Riva Stahl
Hubert Zajicek, Vice-President of EUROFER, CEO voestalpine Steel Division
Gunnar Groebler, Vice-President of EUROFER, CEO Salzgitter AG
Photo credits: European Union
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Strasbourg, 07 October 2025 – The new trade measure presented today by the European Commission is a long-awaited proposal to forcefully defend the European steel sector, in full respect of WTO rules, from unfair imports flooding the EU market due to massive global overcapacity. The provisions unveiled by the Commission respond to the needs of the sector and represent a real lifeline for EU steelmakers and steelworkers. The European Parliament and the Council should therefore adopt it as a matter of urgency to enable its entry into force at the beginning of 2026, says the European Steel Association (EUROFER).
Brussels, 01/10/2025
With Europe’s steel industry at breaking point, industriAll Europe and the European Steel Association (EUROFER) held an emergency steel social summit to demand urgent action. Ahead of the announced Commission proposal addressing the impact of global steel excess capacity on the EU steel market, due by mid-October, the European social partners are united in calling for robust and effective trade measures. They also insist on fast and urgent implementation of the EU Steel and Metals Action Plan, especially concerning energy prices and demand. Maintaining the level of political ambition as promised in the EU Steel and Metals Action Plan is essential to restore steel’s competitiveness and save its green transition as well as steelworkers’ jobs across Europe.
Brussels, 19 September 2025 – Following today’s meeting between Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič and a delegation of European steel CEOs on the global steel crisis and the challenges facing the EU steel industry amid massive decarbonisation investments: