Fact Sheets on the European Union – 2 - EU Bookshop - Europa

— The resolution of 13 June 2002 assessed the Commission
communication of 8 November 2001 entitled ‘Sustaining the
commitments, increasing the pace’ (COM(2001) 641) and in
particular reiterated its support for the objective of the
Lisbon European Council in 2000 of making the EU, by 2010,
‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based
economy in the world, capable of sustainable growth with
more and better jobs and greater social cohesion’.
— The resolution of 9 June 2005 welcomed the Commission’s
decision to make industrial policy a priority on the EU
agenda and supported the promotion of a proactive
industrial policy to foster and anticipate structural changes
and develop a sound and competitive industrial base.
— The resolution of 5 July 2006 on ‘A policy framework to
strengthen EU manufacturing — Towards a more
integrated approach for industrial policy’ (2006/2003(INI))
welcomed the Commission communication, which set out
a policy framework and an enhanced work programme for
the manufacturing industries for the coming years and
considers this communication a major building-block for
shaping a sound and balanced industrial policy by
combining concrete sectoral actions with cross-sectoral
policy initiatives.
g
Miklos Györffi
September 2006
4.8.2. The steel industry
Since the expiry of the ECSC Treaty, the trade of coal and steel is governed by the provisions of the EC Treaty. Currently, the
EU is the second largest steel producer in the world, after the USA. It holds the group Arcelor, which is the largest steel
company in the world in terms of revenue and production.
Legal basis
Fifty years after entering into force, the Treaty on the European
Coal and Steel Community, as the legal base for steel industry,
expired as planned on 23 July 2002. Before its expiry, it had
been amended on various occasions by the following Treaties:
the Merger Treaty (Brussels 1965), Treaties amending certain
financial provisions (1970 and 1975), the Treaty on Greenland
(1984), the Treaty on European Union (TEU, Maastricht, 1992),
the Single European Act (1986), the Treaty of Amsterdam
(1997), the Treaty of Nice (2001) and the Treaties of Accession
(1972, 1979, 1985 and 1994).
At the beginning of the 1990s, following extensive debate, its
expiry was considered the best solution as opposed to
renewing the Treaty or a compromise solution. Thus, the
Commission proposed a gradual transition of these two
sectors into the Treaty establishing the European Community.
The rules of this Treaty have applied to the coal and steel trade
since the expiry of the ECSC Treaty.
A protocol on the financial consequences of the expiry of the
ECSC Treaty and on the research fund for coal and steel is annexed
to the Treaty of Nice. This protocol provides for the transfer of all
assets and liabilities of the ECSC to the European Community and
for the use of the net worth of these assets and liabilities for
research in the sectors related to the coal and steel industry.
Some decisions of February 2003 contain the necessary
measures for the implementation of the provisions of the
protocol, the financial guidelines and the provisions relating to
the research fund for coal and steel.
Thus, since the Treaty of Maastricht, Article 157 of the EC Treaty
constitutes the legal basis for the steel industry. This article is
governed by co-decision, giving Parliament the role of colegislator.
Objectives
The EU is the world’s second largest steel producer after China,
with total production of crude steel of 143 million tonnes in
2004 (30 % of world production). The European steel industry
comprises some 300 enterprises — almost all of them large.
They account for about 1.8 % of the value added and 1.5 % of
employment in EU manufacturing. There has been a rapid
growth in steel production elsewhere in the world — mainly
in Asia — leading to a sharp decline in the EU’s traditional
surplus in iron and steel. EU imports have increased from 15.4
million tonnes in 1997 to 26.6 million tonnes in 2001. The EU is
second to the USA in trading power, with Japan third.
The Luxembourg-based Arcelor Group, created in February
2002 following the merger of three steel producers — Aceralia,
Arbed and Usinor — became the world’s second largest
steelmaking group, with 5 % of the market. In 2006 following a
bid of Mittal Steel, based in The Netherlands, a new group
called ArcelorMittal has been formed, which is the world’s
leading steel company, by both revenue and production. The
company operates 61 plants across 27 countries, employing
some 320 000 employees.
EU tariffs for steel products are relatively low. The average
consolidated bound rate was around 2 % in 2000, and all tariffs
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