Europe is too slow to support its industries: conference
Representatives of the EU steel industry lamented the slowness of the bureaucracy in the bloc, delaying crucial industrial projects, during the Handelsblatt "Zukunft Stahl" conference in Essen this week.
Johnny Shestrem, executive Director of SSAB, who previously worked in both the United States and China, noted that in these countries it takes only six months to lay a new transmission line, "while in Oxelesund it took us nine years to get approval." This included making decisions, overturning them, and appealing to various instances in the process of political approval. "We need to overcome this bureaucracy," Callanish heard him demand at the event.
Hansjorg Furmann, former CEO of Salzgitter, who participated in the conference as a participant, noted that in India, "the timing is very different" compared to the "artificial rules" that slow down decision-making in Europe.
This was confirmed by Hubert Zaicek, head of voestalpine's steel division, who spoke about the impressions he received about different countries thanks to his experience as a member of the worldsteel executive committee. "It is foolish to believe that we Europeans can separate our economic ecosystem[with its numerous regulations]from the rest of the world," he said.
To a lesser extent, Europe is also lagging behind in terms of business processes such as consolidation, said Guido Kerkhoff, CEO of Klöckner & Co, which has significantly expanded its presence in the USA. In the United States, the process of acquiring and expanding a business requires between a third and half of the effort required in Europe. "After all, you're considered a good guy when you start investing," he said.
Shestrem also pointed out a particularly difficult case where speed can be crucial. The standardization and approval of tank designs by the European armed forces is a lengthy process, which means that the total production of tanks in Europe does not exceed 50 units per year, compared with 500 produced in Russia during the same time.
Author: Christian Kel Germany
Kallanish.com