Although the EU public procurement market for goods and services is transparent and open to foreign bidders, there is growing lack of level-playing field in world procurement markets. Third countries are increasingly restricting access to their markets while their companies are winning significant contracts abroad – sometimes on unfair pricing terms or by challenging EU public procurement rules. This poses a threat to growth and employment in the EU, as it represents missed opportunities for exports but also increasingly in the domestic market.
Against this background, AEGIS Europe calls on the European Union to take a strong stance on reciprocity and other reforms needed in the field of public procurement. This is key to support the opening of international procurement markets while guaranteeing an adequate level of protection of the EU public procurement market against non-reciprocal and/or unfair competition.
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Brussels, 2 April 2025 - The latest data unveiled by the OECD in its meeting in Paris draw an extremely worrying picture, where global steel excess capacity is expected to grow from an estimated 602 million tonnes in 2024 to 721 million tonnes by 2027 – over five times the EU's steel production. The European steel industry - already severely hit by the spill-over effects of global overcapacity and the U.S. steel import tariffs - reiterates the crucial need for strict and effective EU post-safeguard measures to ensure its survival.
Brussels, 19 March 2025 – The Steel and Metals Action Plan, unveiled today by the European Commission, provides the right diagnosis to the existential challenges facing the European steel industry. Concrete measures need to follow swiftly to reverse the decline of the sector, re-establish a level playing field with global competitors, and incentivise investment and uptake of green steel in the market.
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