The European Council has approved its mandate to negotiate with the European Parliament on a new steel trade regime with certain amendments, such as allowing unused quotas to remain and reviewing the scope of the measure after 18 months.
Meanwhile, starting from October 1, 2026, Callanish notes, importers will be required to provide evidence of the country of production of the melt and casting.
The Council states that it has included the interests of the union as a guiding principle to ensure that the interests of all economic operators and end users are clearly taken into account.
Unused volumes of the tariff quota for one quarter will be allowed to be transferred to the next quarter during the same annual period of tariff quota application. When changing quotas, policy makers also need to take into account the potential for significant price increases that would seriously undermine the competitiveness of processing industries.
The European Commission may, through a delegated act, adjust the volume of tariff quotas, taking into account the interests of the EU and a number of elements. The Council explained that the total value of these adjusted quotas should be limited to remain in the range of 15.2 to 22.2 million tons.
In the meantime, the Council notes that the effective date of the law on melting and bottling will provide a transition period for industry and customs authorities to adjust to the new rule.
Within two years, the European Commission will have to assess whether the country of production should be identified as the basis for allocating tariff quotas to specific countries. If the Commission concludes that this needs to be done, it will submit a new legislative proposal in this regard.
Regarding the review of the scope in 18 months, to this end, the Commission will begin a consultation process with relevant stakeholders by October 1, 2026.
The period for the first general analysis of the regulation's impact on the steel market and EU interests has been shortened to four years from the effective date, with subsequent assessments every two years thereafter. The Council also paid additional attention in the review to the impact on the processing industries.
The new regulation also requires the Commission to provide EU economic operators with access to an online contact center to request relevant information regarding the implementation of this regulation.
As soon as the European Parliament approves its position, the co-authors of the bill will begin negotiations to finalize the text. The European Parliament's Committee on International Trade (INTA) is likely to vote on the amended proposal in January before
