German steel industry says EU “buy European” proposal fails to secure sector’s future

The European Commission’s proposal to prioritise “made in Europe” products in public spending to help local industries compete with foreign competitors remains well below what is necessary to secure the steel sector’s future, Germany’s steel industry said. “Brussels gives us ambitious climate targets, but no industrial policy safeguards for the transition to climate neutrality here at home,” said Kerstin Maria Rippel, head of steel industry association WV Stahl. 

“If Europe takes resilience and climate targets seriously, it needs to specifically strengthen domestic production,” Rippel added.

The Commission proposal for an “Industrial Accelerator Act” introduces local content criteria for public spending on manufacturing or buying key products such as cement and aluminium, as well as many energy transition technologies such as electric cars, wind turbines, and solar cells. It is meant to help the bloc’s domestic industries compete with other world regions that face fewer regulations and often lower energy prices than in Europe. 

Germany’s steel industry welcomed that the proposal officially classifies the sector as strategic, and that it calls for a 25-percent quota for low-emission steel. But it lamented that this was not combined with a “Made in Europe” requirement for steel, in contrast to many other products. 

“If the Commission's proposal becomes reality in its current form, low-emission imported steel will be able to meet the same quotas as steel produced in the EU. This undermines the investment security of our industry and weakens Europe as a business location – at a time when industrial strength is becoming a security policy necessity,” Rippel said.

Both the steel lobby group and environmental organisations also criticised that the Commission dropped original plans for a voluntary label for low-emission steel.  

“A label with a transparent calculation method would, for the first time in the EU, regulate when steel is considered green based on clear criteria,” said industry decarbonisation expert Felix Gill from NGO Germanwatch. “This would be a prerequisite for ensuring reliable public procurement for pioneering companies and strengthening investment decisions in low-emission production at European steel sites.”

Climate think tank E3G said the exclusion of a label meant valuable time had been lost. “There is now no clear definition or timeline for the introduction of low-carbon steel,” said E3G’s steel expert Mark Hagen, who called on the Commission to ensure rapid progress toward both. 

EU countries and the European Parliament must still finalise the law, which is likely to result in further changes in the coming months.