The European Commission (EC) has published a Communication on a European Steel and Metals Action Plan outlining the EC’s policy for EU metals industries, including by setting out a calendar of actions it intends to take over the next two years. The Action Plan pursues seven main objectives:
Lowering energy costs in the metals industries
Supporting access to sustainable energy sources
Preventing carbon leakage
Protecting and supporting the EU’s metallurgical industrial capacities
Promoting circularity in metals
Protecting jobs
Supporting decarbonization projects
Following a loss in international competitiveness, the Action Plan outlines the EC’s intention to reinforce its use of trade measures to preserve the EU’s metals industries and improve EU scrap metal access. Additionally, the EC intends to address carbon leakage by expanding the scope of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to certain steel and aluminum-intensive products.
In this client alert, we provide an overview of the EC’s envisaged policy actions in relation to metals, before setting out certain policies that may particularly affect trade.
