The European Steel Association (EUROFER) has published a statement to support the industry workers' demonstration organized by trade union industriAll Europe and taking place tomorrow on February 5, with thousands of workers from across the EU asking for a real Clean Industrial Deal that ensures quality jobs in the EU. EU steel workers will join workers from other manufacturing industries to call on the European Commission to save the industry and preserve employment by investing in good industrial jobs and the green energy transition, while combating global overcapacity and unfair trade.
“Without immediate action from the European Union, there will be more plant closures and job losses in the steel industry. For every direct job in the steel sector, seven more are created in the EU’s economy: steel is at the core of many other sectors, from automotive, construction and defence to renewable energy systems and aerospace. If steel disappears from Europe, value chains and prosperity will disappear too,” Axel Eggert, director general of EUROFER, said.
The European steel industry expects both the Clean Industrial Deal and the Steel and Metals Action Plan to deliver genuine solutions to longstanding challenges. Critical measures proposed in the industriAll-EUROFER European Steel Action Plan are: assertive enforcement of the EU trade defence instruments, and a more robust tariffication regime to stop the spill-over impact of global steel excess capacity; a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) that works in practice, preventing circumvention or resource shuffling and preserving EU steel exports; renewable and low-carbon electricity; retaining steel scrap in Europe for the circular economy, decarbonization and energy security. “The initiatives to be put forward by the Commission over the next weeks will determine the life expectancy of the European steel industry, and, with it, European manufacturing, Europe’s competitiveness, and Europe’s security,” Mr. Eggert concluded.