The European Steel Association welcomes the European Commission’s proposals for a Recovery Plan for Europe, published on 27 May, with the communication on 'Europe’s moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation and the communication on the EU budget powering the recovery plan for Europe'.

It is however unlikely that the proposed measures will materialise before the second half of 2021. Additional short-term emergency measures are vital for sectors strongly hit, such as steel and its value chains. These should comprise, inter alia, immediate measures against distorting steel imports, incentives to stimulate demand in the downstream value chain (automotive, construction, mechanical engineering, …) and a force majeure clause for the EU ETS to ensure that the level of free allocation post- 2020 is not impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.