Ref. Ares(2021)4414341 - 07/07/2021
From the Director General
Tuesday, 10 December 2019
Mrs Margrethe Vestager
Executive Vice-President for a
Europe fit for the Digital Age
European Commission
Request for a meeting with the CEOs of the EU steel industry
Dear Mrs Vestager,
On behalf of the European steel industry, I would like to congratulate you on your appointment as
Executive
Vice-President for
a Europe
fit for
the Digital Age. We wish to support the new Commission's priorities and
political guidelines and are looking forward to a fruitful co-operation with you on the policy areas under your
portfolio which are of vital relevance for our sector.
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 and global
trade distortions. Our present circumstances are the result of other regions' state support to trade, 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. Moreover, these imports, on average, have a much higher CO2 footprint - in certain cases even five
times higher - than steel produced in the EU.
The guidelines for the new Commission give us hope that we will be able to emerge strongly from the current
steel crisis. We support the initiatives for a
European Green
Deal, for
a new Sustainable Europe
Investment Plan
and a stronger Europe in
the world. Working together, we could transform the challenges into opportunities
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 COrlean and CO2-neutral energy and infrastructure available at affordable rates, the European steel
industry would be empowered 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. 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 COrneutral 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 would like to take this opportunity to propose a meeting between you and the CEOs of the European
steel industry at your earliest convenience to further discuss the upcoming
long-term strategy for Europe's
industrial future and how to promote
a level playing field to
maintain competitiveness,
State aid rules in
relation to
the green transition
of industry, contribution
of EU research and innovation to climate
change policy,
including the
potential role of Important Projects of Common European Interest for promoting first
industrial
deployments of Low-CO2
technologies in
steel making, and our
proposal for
a regulatory framework for CO2-lean
steel produced in
Europe.
We thank you for your consideration of our meeting request and remain at your disposal for any further
information you may require.
Yours sincerely,
@eurofer.be • www.eurofer.eu • EU Transparency Register: ID 93038071152-83