Author: SteelRadar Editorial Team
Steelradar.com
V.</p><p>V. Stahl criticizes the procurement law: Transformation cannot be achieved without specific criteria
On April 23, 2026, the German Federation of Steel Manufacturers announced that the Law on Accelerating Procurement, which will be voted on in the Bundestag, should be cleared of ambiguities and supplemented with mandatory criteria in order to support domestic production and "green" transformation. General Director of the German Steel Manufacturers Federation (WV Stahl) Kerstin Maria Rippel, in her assessment of the draft Law on Accelerating Public Procurement, which was voted on in the Federal Parliament on April 23, 2026, stated that this law represents an important step towards ensuring sustainability in public procurement. However, Rippel criticized the current draft for being extremely ambiguous and for postponing the adoption of key provisions by a separate decree until June 2027. She recalled that steel companies have already invested billions of euros in climate-neutral production processes, and stressed that in order for these investments to pay off, it is necessary to plan safety "now" rather than next year. Despite the fact that the new regulation aims to make public procurement a key lever for the transformation of domestic industry, favorable to climate change, attention is drawn to the lack of mandatory criteria for sustainability and the "Made in the EU" approach in the project. Rippel stressed that public tenders should not be aimed solely at obtaining the lowest price, but should promote innovation and create industrial value in Europe. She also warned that a system without the "Made in the EU" criterion risks using German taxpayers' money to finance decarbonization in other parts of the world, rather than supporting domestic industry. Germany, which has maintained its position as Europe's largest steelmaking center with a production volume of 34.1 million tons in 2025, is urged by the federation to adopt appropriate regulations to maintain this level. The statement highlights the need to implement mandatory criteria as soon as possible, which would expand the use of low-emission base materials such as environmentally friendly steel and cement. Finally, Rippel called for the decisive use of existing national policy instruments and the rapid elimination of legal uncertainty.
