(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – Europe’s steel industry region forms an Alliance to call on the EU to take strong and sharp action to protect the sector. Representatives from Lombardy, Grand Est (France), Brandenburg and Saarland (Germany), Basque Country (Spain) and Flanders (Belgium) met in Strasbourg for “fruitful and frank” discussions with the European Commission and in particular with structures related to industry and entrepreneurship. The request from the steel region relates to measures aimed at reducing energy costs for electro-intensive industries, increasing Europe’s protection against global overcapacity and making the functioning of the “Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism” more efficient, namely the rules the Commission uses to regulate trade with non-EU countries.
Summit in Strasbourg after letters from 8 steel regions
The Strasbourg summit follows a joint letter sent in recent weeks to the European Commission by the Governor of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, and the presidents of the 8 steel regions, in which warnings were raised for “a model that is losing its reference points, weakened by persistent competitive distortions and unfair international pressure. In this context, the promise of the ecological transition cannot be maintained without a strong industrial base and without real prospects for the men and women who run our businesses”, as indicated in the document signed by Lombardy, Hauts-de-France and Grand Est (France), Baden Wurttemberg, Brandenburg and Saarland (Germany), Wallonia and Flanders (Belgium).
Guidesi Council members participated for Lombardy
For the Lombardy Region, Member of the Economic Development Council, Guido Guidesi, spoke and underlined the need to act in a coordinated and timely manner to avoid an irreversible decline caused by the closure of companies and the loss of jobs: «The steel industry is a basic and strategic sector for the most important productive regions of the continent, Lombardy being the first and most important. Europe must not lose jobs, industrial heritage and skills that represent the essence of the manufacturing cycle.” At the table, Guidesi reiterated that «the steel industry must remain at the center of European industrial development policy. The “European Action Plan for Steel and Metals” presented at the beginning of this year by the European Commission must be implemented and supported with real initiatives, before it is too late. We need adequate and effective continental governance, which avoids underestimation and mistakes.” According to Guidesi, «it is important to accompany investments in technology, innovation and sustainability. Without pursuing useless and detrimental ideological approaches. Intervention is urgent in terms of energy costs, import restrictions, the use of second-hand materials as raw materials and the ETS system”, which ends with an invitation to the EU to listen to the regions: “From this meeting, a unity of purpose emerged between the regions which is the driving force of the continent’s economy, the European Executive must take this into account”.
