Measures to protect the steel market in the European Union will continue to evolve depending on the situation in the European and global industries, said Karl Tachele, Deputy CEO of Eurofer. He called the system of tariff quotas for steel a "living instrument."
Tachele, who is responsible for international relations at the European Steel producers Association Eurofer, discussed possible changes to this mechanism on September 16 in Warsaw at the EUROMETAL Central Europe 2026 regional meeting during a discussion on industrial competitiveness and regulation.
According to him, unlike the traditional EU protective measures, which are limited in duration, the July revision of the tariff quota system may lead to a more permanent mechanism, although it will still remain a flexible tool.
The future of regulation will depend not only on the situation on the global steel market. One of the key tasks remains to contain import pressure related to global overcapacity. However, Tahele called the decarbonization of the European steel industry an equally important factor.
In his opinion, the European Commission will not maintain protective measures if the EU's metallurgical enterprises fail to modernize in accordance with the union's climate goals.
At the same time, Takhele took a more optimistic position than is usually heard in conversations about European metallurgy. He said that Europe, in a certain sense, is turning into an investment center for the global steel industry, if we are talking not only about capacity expansion, but also about projects to reduce emissions.
He stressed that the traditional model of integrated steel production is "unstable" in the context of the EU climate policy and that the future of the industry is linked to a new type of competitiveness that goes beyond price.
Advantages of the EU
The deputy head of Eurofer noted that the European Union has serious advantages for the transition to a low-carbon economy. Among them, he named large reserves of high-quality scrap metal, technological competencies, expertise, and a large industrial sector that is itself interested in preserving these advantages.
According to Tahele, some of the obstacles to decarbonization in Europe will be very difficult to overcome. Nevertheless, European industry needs to gain new competitiveness. He also questioned the long-term sustainability of new blast furnace facilities, including projects in India, over a 20-30-year horizon.
The European Commission, as noted at the conference, is taking an increasingly tough stance on the inevitability of an industrial transition. The July proposal on the reform of the EU emissions trading system provides for