Brussels, 16/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - Speeding up anti-dumping procedures, as proposed in the European Commission communication presented on Wednesday 16 March, in order to support the European steel-making sector won the unanimous support of the industry and the Parliament. However, many parliamentarians and industry representatives feel the Commission's proposals to be short on ambition, whether on the ETS (emissions trading scheme) or on granting China market economy status.
The final version of the communication differs very little from the one seen by EUROPE (see EUROPE 11512). The Commission is looking very quickly to reduce the time anti-dumping procedures take by a month, and by two months in the medium term, if progress can be made on modernisation of EU trade defence instruments (TDIs), an issue which has currently ground to a halt in Council (see EUROPE 11175). It also wants to open bilateral and multilateral dialogues to try to reduce global over-production of steel. In addition, it wants to make it easier to access the various European funds and financial instruments to help the sector modernise and it has called for revision of the ETS to be adopted rapidly.
In the European Parliament, the reception was very mixed. Françoise Grossetête (EPP, France) takes the view that the communication “is going in the right direction”. The Commission's announcement would seem to be in line with the general thrust of the EPP Group's statement on the steel sector that was adopted in February. Grossetête suggests now that it is up to the Commission and the member states to “tackle the issue head on” to push things on “because the situation is urgent”.
On the other hand, Édouard Martin (S&D, France), who drafted an own initiative report on support for the European steel industry (see EUROPE 11455), was far from happy. “This is the dance of the two-faced hypocrites …”, he told EUROPE. In his view, the Commission proposals have brought nothing new: even the announced one-month reduction in procedure time is less than what the Council wants (see EUROPE 11501). He calls for the EU to follow the American model, with two-month timescales, and a system of surcharges on steel products imported from China of over 200%. The Commission, he feels, would seem to have produced a plan of very low ambition to maximise the chances of having it adopted by the Council, particularly torn over what action to take. The only positive point, in his view, is that the Commission forces the member states to face up to their responsibilities on TDIs.
It is not good enough for the Greens/EFA either. “The Commission is unwilling to look for effective trade instruments. Business as usual won't be good enough”, warned Reinhard Bütikofer (Germany). An internal source told EUROPE that the Greens/EFA Group remains divided on the position to adopt towards recognising China as a market economy. The delegations from the northern countries would appear to be more in favour of a sectoral recognition while others, like the French delegation, reject the very principle of granting China market economy status.
The welcome from the steel-making industry was mixed. Eurofer, which represents the steel sector in the EU, welcomed the measures to speed up anti-dumping procedures. It says, however, that the United States must be the example to follow on modernising TDIs. In addition, it regrets that no mention is made of China's having to meet its WTO obligations before it can be granted market economy status. Eurofer is unhappy, too, that the communication does not clearly address the issue of the ETS which is harming the competitiveness of the European steel industry. It says that, as things stand at the moment, carbon leakage will continue. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)