On 7 October 2025, the European Commission presented a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council aimed at protecting the European steel industry from the negative trade effects of persistent global steel overcapacity.
Steel is a key material for the European economy – from construction, transport and energy to the defence industry. The European steel sector employs around 300 000 people directly and more than 2.5 million indirectly, yet in recent years it has faced strong pressure from imports from third countries at unsustainable prices.
According to the Commission, this situation threatens the EU’s competitiveness and decarbonisation efforts, which are essential to meet the Green Deal objectives, while preserving the Union’s strategic autonomy in defence and key infrastructure. Since 2008, the European steel industry has lost around 100 000 jobs and its capacity utilisation is well below profitability.
The new regulation is intended to replace the existing safeguard measures, which expire on 30 June 2026.
The proposed rules foresee:
- The opening of duty-free import quotas for individual categories of steel products up to a certain level of imports (in total approximately 18.3 million tonnes per year),
- the imposition of a 50% duty on imports in excess of these quotas,
- the obligation to provide proof of the country of melt and pour of the steel in order to prevent circumvention of the measures via third countries,
- a periodic review of the effectiveness of the measures, the first by 2031.
The aim is to create a stable environment that allows European producers to invest in low-carbon technologies and to ensure a level playing field in global steel trade.
The proposal will now be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council under the ordinary legislative procedure.
Petr Škapa
PST CLC Mitsui-Soko a.s.
MOBILE: +420 724 880 329
E-MAIL: Petr.Skapa@pst-clc.cz
WEB: www.pst-clc.cz
