The European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER) has expressed its grave concern over the climate change policy of the European Union (EU) in an open letter addressed to the governments of EU member states on the occasion of the first European Steel Day. "To remain competitive in the free, global steel markets, European steel needs a level playing field in which legislation does not harm its competitiveness or that of the European economy," EUROFER stated.
The letter indicates that the EU steel industry will be severely damaged because of the refusal to provide 100 percent free allowances for the best performers despite the commitment for this in the EU emissions trading system (ETS) directive and the failure so far to allow compensation for ETS-related increases in electricity costs. The consequence would be the inability of the EU steel industry to grow in the future and to support its metal processing clients, the market segment where EU industry is globally strongest in terms of innovation, activity and jobs.
The letter also predicts that the proposed unilateral legislative measures will deprive Europe of investment and will increase global emissions as market share is off-shored to non-EU countries with inferior emissions standards. This will result in more steel imports with a worse CO2 balance at the expense of EU industry, jobs and GDP.