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Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation
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The steel industry welcomes the release of the recently proposed Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) by the European Commission. The European Union needs strong legislation to achieve its ambitious objectives set in the Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan, which can improve its competitiveness on global markets and set an example to other economies. The success of this general framework legislation relies on numerous related delegated and implementing acts to be released, the revision of already existing ones and their mutual coherence. It will extend the scope to a wider range of products to strengthen the circularity criteria, to introduce new information requirements for products and to provide more sustainable information alongside sustainable products for customers on the European market. Living up to this ambition will require a sustained, coherent and forward-looking thrust from the European Commission. The European steel industry is ready to assist in that challenge.
Key areas are: harmonisation, requirements, digital product passport and substances of concern.
In conclusion, the European Commission proposal is an important but also challenging starting point towards the transition to the circular economy, which is a key contributor for achieving climate neutrality targets. However, its effectiveness will greatly rely on the new requirements with appropriate relevance for products levels in delegated acts and overall coherence of related legislation. Driving the transition to more sustainable products requires also the creation of lead markets, as well as incentivising them to keep the pace and motivate others, whilst harnessing the current potential from industry. The steel sector is looking forward to cooperating with the European Parliament and the European Council for enhancing the current text.
The full text of the position paper on the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation is available below.
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Brussels, 11 September 2025 – The lack of a solution for steel in the EU-U.S. trade negotiations, the ongoing unpredictability of the global geoeconomic situation, and persistently weak demand against an ever-growing global steel overcapacity are squeezing the European steel market. In 2025, the outlook points to stagnation, with potential recovery only in 2026 — conditional on improvements in the global economy and an easing of trade tensions. According to EUROFER’s latest Economic and Steel Market Outlook, another recession both in apparent steel consumption (-0.2%, revised upwards from -0.9%) and in steel-using sectors (-0.7%, revised downwards from -0.5%) is confirmed for 2025. Growth prospects are now delayed at least to 2026, with projections of a rebound for both apparent steel consumption (+3.1%) and steel-using sectors (+1.8%). However, steel imports continue to hold historically high market shares (25%) in 2025.
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Brussels, 10 September 2025 – Reacting to today’s State of the Union Address delivered by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Axel Eggert, Director General of the European Steel Association (EUROFER) said: