Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, has convened key European industry leaders, social partners, and stakeholders for the launch of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the European Steel sector. This dialogue marks the start of an inclusive and collaborative process to address critical challenges faced by the sector and ensure its continued success as a key driver of the European economy.
Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “Our European Union was built on a community of coal and steel. Steel is everywhere, from wind power to defence. But European steelmakers are at a crossroads, facing the challenges of necessary decarbonisation and partly unfair global competition. Today's Dialogue is to lead to a tailored plan to help this sector decarbonise and thrive globally. We join forces to make a strong business case for steel made in Europe.”
Steel plants are at the heart of many regional economies. They support over 2.5 million jobs in the EU. However, the steel industry is under great pressure. Production costs have increased due to high energy prices, while product prices have dropped due to increasing global non-market overcapacity and decreased demand. Consequently, the sector could not invest in clean steel, which is needed for the decarbonisation of this industry.
Today's first dialogue allowed the Commission and key actors to start charting the way ahead. Already with the Clean Industrial Deal adopted in February, the Commission took bold actions to help the energy-intensive industries lower energy costs and face global overcapacities. The Deal also sets out measures to create lead markets for low carbon steel and speed up investments, with more than €100 billion for EU-made clean manufacturing.
The outcome of this consultative process will feed into an Action Plan on Steel and Metals, which will indicate additional sector-specific priority actions as well as long-term measures to replace trade defence safeguard measures expiring in June 2026. The Action Plan will address a broad range of issues relevant for the sector, such as i) ensuring that clean steel production is commercially viable; ii) agreeing on how to best respond to the unfair and unjustified trading practices; and iii) identifying long term measures that could best replace current safeguard measures.
President von der Leyen has tasked Executive Vice-President Séjourné to present an Action Plan on the 19th of March.
The European Parliament and the Council will be closely involved in the process and will be regularly informed and consulted on the Dialogue.
Background
The European steel industry is a vital component of the EU economy and a key enabler of its strategic autonomy.
The European steel industry, with approximately 500 production sites across 22 Member States, contributes around EUR 80 billion to the EU's GDP and supports over 2.5 million jobs. It provides essential inputs to critical sectors such as automotive, construction, defence, net-zero technologies, electric vehicles (EVs), and critical infrastructure, underpinning entire industrial value chains.