European Steel Association EUROFER has reiterated its call to EU policy makers for an open, fact-based discussion, also in light of the evolving geopolitical and energetic context, in order to speed up decarbonization and secure the EU’s strategic autonomy. EUROFER Director General Mr Axel Eggert said “The European Parliament has recognized only partially a few key issues for industry, such as benchmark rules, exports and ETS/CBAM interaction. However, the agreed text is insufficient to preserve EU exports and doesn’t provide the necessary cautious transition from current carbon leakage measures to CBAM. Hence, further work is needed to align the current texts to our climate ambition and allow the successful implementation of our large number of low carbon steel projects.” Mr Eggert said “In addition, the Parliament missed the opportunity to concretely address the upstream emissions of input materials used for the production of stainless steel. Those emissions are up to seven times higher in imported products compared to EU stainless steel production.” Mr Eggert urged “We are asking for the right conditions to enable the green steel transition, which is under way. EUROFER is willing to contribute in a constructive way to the public debate and therefore we call once again on EU policymakers to have an open, fact-based discussion on these crucial topics. This is even more urgent against the backdrop of the accelerating EU energy crisis. The current geopolitical situation requires swift but forward-looking decisions to cut the EU’s fossil fuels dependency from Russia whilst speeding up the green transition.” In particular, the European steel sector asks for 1. Effective measures on exports to preserve a significant part of the EU steel production which is worth EUR 45 billion and represents about 30,000 direct jobs 2. More cautious transition to CBAM from existing ETS carbon leakage rules, notably regarding a smoother free allocation phase out and the compensation of indirect costs, as long as the new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism has not proven its effectiveness 3. Avoiding unnecessary costs for EU society as whole, preventing an even higher inflation, by reviewing the current provisions on the Market Stability Reserve and rebasing 4. Including ferroalloys in the list of input materials to be considered, as they significantly contribute to CO2 emissions These measures will contribute to the green steel transition. The steel industry has now 60 low carbon projects with a CO2 emissions potential abatement of 81.5 million tonnes per year by 2030, equal to approximately a 2% cut of overall EU emissions. For the steel sector, on its path to carbon neutrality, this represents a 55% cut compared to 1990 levels, in line with the EU Fit for 55 targets.
European Steel Association EUROFER has reiterated its call to EU policy makers for an open, fact-based discussion, also in light of the evolving geopolitical and energetic context, in order to speed up decarbonization and secure the EU’s strategic autonomy. EUROFER Director General Mr Axel Eggert said “The European Parliament has recognized only partially a few key issues for industry, such as benchmark rules, exports and ETS/CBAM interaction. However, the agreed text is insufficient to preserve EU exports and doesn’t provide the necessary cautious transition from current carbon leakage measures to CBAM. Hence, further work is needed to align the current texts to our climate ambition and allow the successful implementation of our large number of low carbon steel projects.” Mr Eggert said “In addition, the Parliament missed the opportunity to concretely address the upstream emissions of input materials used for the production of stainless steel. Those emissions are up to seven times higher in imported products compared to EU stainless steel production.” Mr Eggert urged “We are asking for the right conditions to enable the green steel transition, which is under way. EUROFER is willing to contribute in a constructive way to the public debate and therefore we call once again on EU policymakers to have an open, fact-based discussion on these crucial topics. This is even more urgent against the backdrop of the accelerating EU energy crisis. The current geopolitical situation requires swift but forward-looking decisions to cut the EU’s fossil fuels dependency from Russia whilst speeding up the green transition.” In particular, the European steel sector asks for 1. Effective measures on exports to preserve a significant part of the EU steel production which is worth EUR 45 billion and represents about 30,000 direct jobs 2. More cautious transition to CBAM from existing ETS carbon leakage rules, notably regarding a smoother free allocation phase out and the compensation of indirect costs, as long as the new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism has not proven its effectiveness 3. Avoiding unnecessary costs for EU society as whole, preventing an even higher inflation, by reviewing the current provisions on the Market Stability Reserve and rebasing 4. Including ferroalloys in the list of input materials to be considered, as they significantly contribute to CO2 emissions These measures will contribute to the green steel transition. The steel industry has now 60 low carbon projects with a CO2 emissions potential abatement of 81.5 million tonnes per year by 2030, equal to approximately a 2% cut of overall EU emissions. For the steel sector, on its path to carbon neutrality, this represents a 55% cut compared to 1990 levels, in line with the EU Fit for 55 targets.
