There has been some progress on this and again, I applaud the Commission for its willingness to listen to our concerns.
What has actually happened is that the Commission has combined how it plans to deal with the China MES issue with TDI modernisation; the proposal it has made covers both areas. They are trying to kill two birds with one stone.
I can understand why, to an extent, but these are two fundamentally different issues, and it is critically important that the proposals are thoroughly assessed by all stakeholders and at all levels of European Government, to ensure that they effectively address both matters.
The proposal – the same proposal tabled by the Commission on 9 November last year – does represent progress. It will introduce provisional dumping measures two months earlier than is currently the case. This I am pleased with. It will also allow the Lesser Duty Rule to be lifted under certain conditions, namely when prices are influenced by raw material or energy price distortions. The issue is that the proposal includes thresholds for raw material distortions which are too high. The new proposal is something, but not enough – it doesn’t level the playing field and align with the US approach – and I do hope that we will see further reform in this area.
Ensuring the EU effectively deals with the China MES and TDI modernisation issues, and we have the tools to address unfair trade practices is very important to our industry. The EU ETS however is absolutely critical. I cannot stress enough how important it is that we achieve reform to this policy; it is without a doubt the single most important policy issue ArcelorMittal faces today. Without reform, the system puts the sustainability of the entire European steel industry in jeopardy. This is why we and Eurofer have been calling for reform for some time.
Before I comment on where we need to see reform, and why we feel what we are asking for is justified, it is very important to first say that we recognise and support the need to transition to a low-carbon economy and are committed to contributing to achieve this requirement.
Europe has developed and proposed the EU ETS as the cornerstone of its policy initiatives designed to combat climate change. The system covers all European energy intensive, carbon emitting industries, and places a price on every tonne of CO2 emitted. It is a highly ambitious scheme that aims to, by 2030, reduce EU CO2 emissions to a level 43% lower than those emitted in 2005. I’m sure everyone would agree that climate change is a very serious issue, and I applaud the principle of the EU’s approach. However, in the context of the global steel industry, the EU ETS scheme is fundamentally flawed.