The European Parliament wants to ban Russian steel
The European Parliament's attempt to add a ban on Russian steel to the new EU protective measures will complicate the situation with negotiations between European institutions, Politico reports.
By supplementing the proposal to review protective measures in January this year, MEPs hope to stop Russian steel exports, while some previous sanctions attempts have failed – such a step would require the unanimous support of the 27 member states of the bloc.
Sanctions against Russia have blocked the import of most steel products into the EU, especially the most basic ones. However, the supply of semi-finished products to the block is still allowed, as Belgium, the Czech Republic and Italy have asked to keep them available to enterprises that, according to their arguments, do not have alternative sources.
NLMK, Russia's largest steel producer, has sheet metal production assets in Belgium, Denmark and Italy. The Evraz conglomerate owned Czech Vitkovice Steel until recently, but in 2025 it was sold to Jindal Steel International - the Indian buyer completed the acquisition of 100% of shares last year in January.
MEP Karin Carlsbro, who is the European Parliament's chief negotiator, hopes that the three EU institutions will be able to start negotiations before February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia's full–scale invasion of Ukraine. There are only four months left to reach an agreement (before the expiration of the current European steel protection measures). However, the schedule has not yet been determined.
In October last year, the EC proposed almost halving duty-free quotas on steel imports and doubling tariffs on volumes above them to 50%. Neither the original proposal of the European Commission nor the draft of the European Council contain a ban on the import of metal products from the Russian Federation. For this measure to take effect, the three branches of the EU government must conclude a compromise agreement.
Carlsbro said she is working to convince a sufficient number of EU countries to support the parliament's proposal, and some of the bloc's members perceive this. One of the national officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Politico that tactically this step is reasonable because it allows us to find a longer-term solution than the policy of sanctions.
Other interlocutors of the publication indicate that at some point there may be a desire to ease or lift sanctions, recalling a potential peace agreement in Ukraine.
If the ban for the Russian Federation survives the inter-institutional negotiations, it may face the same legal challenges as the gradual withdrawal of the EU from Russian gas when there was insufficient support for the imposition of sanctions.
However, the bloc needs to immediately replace its protective measures amid global overcapacity and Trump's 50 percent tariffs.