During the debate on the current crisis in the steel industry, Daniel Obajtek, coordinator of the ECR Group in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, pointed out that steel production in Europe fell by 10 per cent in 2023 alone.

“The steel sector in Europe, which includes more than 500 companies and employs 2.5 million people, is going through a serious crisis. As a result of EU regulations and green ideology, we are going to put these people out on the street”, he said. “If we don’t find solutions now, there will be no one to help them. Steel mills and steel plants will inevitably go bankrupt.”

Obajtek called for instruments to protect the market from unfair competition. European producers could hardly compete with importers paying much lower energy prices. As a countermeasure, Obajtek called for either the introduction of compensations or the temporary suspension of ETS levies.

“These solutions are on the table, but will anyone have the courage to implement them?” he asked. He also recalled that the cornerstone of the EU was the European Coal and Steel Community: “Back then, protecting the European market was a top priority. Today, we are destroying the European market by introducing ‘green regulations’ that are not in line with the economy,” he said.