Ref. Ares(2021)4414341 - 07/07/2021
From the Director General
Thursday, 18 October 2019
Mr Frans Timmermans
First Vice-President
European Commission
Dear Vice-President, Dear Mr Timmermans,
The European steel industry has examined, with profound interest, the Commission President-elect’s
Political Guidelines and the hearings in the European Parliament for the upcoming European Commission
2019-2024. We wish to support your objectives to the greatest possible extent. Our industry has been, is and
must remain, at the heart of Europe. It is the foundation of many important European value chains and is at
the core of the circular economy. Steel is the most recycled material in the world and the thousands of
innovations EU steel contributes to are a resource for both current and future generations of European
citizens.
The EU steel industry has been brought low by the extremely challenging economic situation. Our present
circumstances are the result of other region’s state support, export-oriented overcapacity build up, and low
environmental ambitions. EU steel imports are at record levels – about 30 million tonnes of ‘finished’
products – and this is a direct consequence of these unfair practices abroad.
Your proposal for a
European Green Deal gives us hope that we will be able to emerge strongly from the
current steel crisis. The proposals, such as that for a European Climate Bank and for Carbon Border
Adjustment as part of a broader improvement of the regulatory framework, receive our full support.
Working together, we could transform the climate challenge into an opportunity for our industry, and for
Europe, to lead the way.
With the right conditions in place, notably including a supportive regulatory framework and a reliable supply
of CO2-lean and CO2-neutral energy and infrastructure available at affordable rates, the European steel
industry would be empowered and would be fully committed to contributing to the achievement of the EU’s
climate objectives. We would be able to develop, upscale and roll-out technologies that could reduce our
sector’s CO2 emissions by at least 80-95% by 2050. We have the ambition to build several industrial scale
demonstrators in the 2020 to 2030 period, some of which could be accomplished during the upcoming
Commission’s term.
To make this happen, we need a
European Green Deal on Steel that establishes a just transition and the right
conditions, such that CO2-lean and CO2-neutral steel can find its place in the market despite the higher capital
investment and operational costs. If the EU demonstrates that the decarbonisation of the sector is possible
without risking its competitiveness or market share as a result of CO2 abatement costs, other regions of the
world will follow our path.
We need to act now. In supporting a
European Green Deal and create a policy for a
stronger Europe in the
world, we would like to take this opportunity to propose a meeting between you and European steel industry
CEOs, to take place at your earliest convenience.
I include the EUROFER’s discussion paper on ‘A Regulatory Framework for CO2-Lean Steel Produced in
Europe’. This paper highlights some of our ambitions and key policy objectives
We thank you for your kind consideration of our meeting request and remain at your disposal for any further
information you may require.
Yours sincerely,
EUROFER AISBL • Avenue de Cortenbergh, 172 • B-1000 Brussels • Belgium • +32 3 738 79 34
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xx • www.eurofer.eu • EU Transparency Register: ID 93038071152-83