German stainless steel distributor Gerber Steel has warned that Europe’s industrial competitiveness is approaching a critical point, citing rising costs, expanding bureaucracy and structural barriers within the EU’s single market.
According to the company’s latest analysis, the key challenge for European industry is not external competition, but the growing burden of regulatory fragmentation, administrative requirements and non-tariff barriers between member states. These factors are estimated to act like internal tariffs of between 65 percent and 100 percent.
Thorsten Gerber, CEO of Gerber Steel, said the single market is stagnating while production costs and prices continue to increase. He argued that protective measures such as tariffs, quotas and origin requirements often raise the cost of European value creation rather than shielding it from external competition, with the additional costs ultimately passed on to businesses and consumers within the EU.
SMEs face disproportionate impact
The company emphasized that small and medium-sized enterprises are the most affected by these developments. Unlike large multinational companies, SMEs have limited capacity to absorb higher compliance costs or relocate production to more favorable locations.
Gerber Steel noted that, while policy measures are often evaluated individually, their cumulative effect creates structural cost pressures and uncertainty across the industrial base. The company also warned that protectionist policies could exacerbate economic imbalances among EU member states, given the wide differences in industrial structures and cost environments.
Call for single market reforms instead of protectionism
Gerber Steel has presented a series of recommendations to the European Council aimed at restoring competitiveness. The company urged policymakers to avoid introducing new trade barriers without comprehensive impact assessments and to remove measures that primarily benefit large industrial players.
It also called for the elimination of internal single market barriers, mandatory SME impact checks for new regulations and a measurable reduction in administrative burdens. According to the company, trade policy should complement a well-functioning single market rather than substitute for it.
Gerber concluded that revitalizing the single market and lowering structural costs, rather than increasing protectionism, will be key to restoring Europe’s industrial competitiveness.
