Resolution of the ECSC Consultative Committee on the Communication (COM(1999) 453 final of 5 October 1999) from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the ECSC Consultative Committee on the state of the competitiveness of the steel industry in the EU
16. 5. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 136/7 RESOLUTION OF THE ECSC CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE on the Communication (COM(1999) 453 final of 5 October 1999) from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the ECSC Consultative Committee on the state of the competitiveness of the steel industry in the EU (2000/C 136/07) (Adopted unanimously during the 349th session of 6 April 2000) HAVING REGARD TO: - the provisions of Article 46 of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC Treaty), which stipulate that the Commission should supply detailed analyses of the state of and general outlook for the steel the production, consumption, sector and estimates of trends and exports and imports of steel, employment training needs (1); - the Memorandum of the ECSC Consultative Committee, of 28 June 1995, on matters connected with the expiry of the ECSC Treaty in 2002; - the opinion of the European Parliament, published in 1996, on the Commission Communication (COM(94) 265) entitled Fresh impetus for restructuring the steel industry in the Communityí, in which the Parliament describes the measures it regards as necessary in the light of the expiry of the ECSC Treaty; - the Commission’s statements the Consultative Committee on 17 December 1998 on the outline for a communication to be drawn up on the global steel and sustainable industry in the European Union; competitiveness of session of the the at - the Commission Communication of 20 January 1999 to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on The competitiveness of European enterprises in the face of globalisation - How it can be encouragedí, in which the Commission states as its aim the permanent, sustainable i. e. ensuring the competi- development of the economy, tiveness considering employment aspects and the protection of the environment; enterprises while European of - the final Communication to the European Parliament, the Council and the ECSC Consultative Committee (COM(1999) (1) 1. See General Objectives for Steelí, which appeared at regular intervals until 1990 and dealt with the objectives regarding modernisation, long-term production planning, production capacities, employment and training. 2. See the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament (SEC(92) 2160) of 23 November industry. 1992 on improving the competitiveness of the steel 3. See the three 1994 Communications from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the restructuring of the Community steel industry (COM(94) 125, COM(94) 265, COM(94) 466). the competitiveness of 453) on The state of the steel industry in the EUí, which the Commission adopted on 5 October, and its subsequent announcement that it would, in cooperation with the groups active on the market, implement a structured follow-up; - the ECSC Consultative Committee Resolution of 15 October 1999 on the need to make effective use of the available trade instruments against unfair imports to the EU steel market which do not comply with WTO rules; - the Decision of the Council of Industry Ministers of 9 communication on November 1999 to forward the the industry, via competitiveness EU steel in the Committee of Permanent Representatives, to its various working levels so that it can be analysed more thoroughly and any necessary conclusions drafted; - the important implications of the document at the stage of transition from the ECSC Treaty to the general Treaty as regards drawing most possible benefit from the experience of the ECSC, which could also be useful for other industrial sectors in Europe. The Consultative Committee WELCOMES: - the fact that the European Commission is endeavouring to fulfil the obligation it entered into in 1995 to submit a document on the competitiveness of the steel sector as a supplement to the policy paper on the financial aspects connected with the expiry of the ECSC Treaty (COM(97) 506 final); - the fact that the Commission is considering supplementing its cross-branch Communication on the competitiveness of European enterprises with analyses of individual European industrial sectors. For this reason the members of the Consultative Committee have already sought dialogue with the Commission at this preliminary stage and have put forward their views on how to ensure competitiveness in the EU steel industry; - the fact that the Commission is dealing item by item with the far-reaching what it regards as the main causes of structural change in the European steel industry; - the fact that the Commission is dealing with the question of how the present structure of the steel sector will develop in the face of the increasing globalisation of markets; - the fact that the Commission recognises the benefit of a structured dialogue between it and the main players C 136/8 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 16. 5. 2000 (producers, workers and consumers/dealers) market and approves of body between these levels for the post-2002 period, after Consultative Committee; in the steel the creation of a consultative i. e. to replace the the ECSC Treaty, the expiry of intends - the fact that the Commission sets out initial ideas as to how it to help the Central and Eastern European countries to restructure their steel industries in preparation for their integration into the EU internal market; - the fact that the Commission undertakes to continue to in cooperation with the players in the steel this monitor, market, branch and to report to the Council on it regularly. the competitiveness of the development of AT THE SAME TIME, HOWEVER, the Consultative Committee REGRETS: the ECSC Treaty in the integration of industry and in the development of - that the Commission, despite acknowledging the positive the role of European steel the steel market and despite the resolutions adopted by the ECSC Consultative Committee, does not deal more explicitly with those elements of the Treaty which should be retained after 2002 (phasing-in); these include in particular the continuation of strict regulations governing State aid, the continuation of an effective range of statistical tools, the forward programme for steel and adequate social measures to accompany restructuring; - that the Commission, in that part of its Communication dealing with the internationalisation of the steel market, does not sufficiently underline the need for a stable legis- lative framework integrating the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development, and applicable in all countries. The Consultative Committee the Communication neglects to tackle also regrets that the consequences for the competitiveness of steel groups of the measures envisaged in the field of energy taxation, and stresses in this respect that such taxation does not appear to be an adequate means of reaching the environ- mental objectives; - that, in cases where the European steel industry is demon- strably being harmed by unfair imports which do not comply with WTO rules, the Commission itself does not trade make sufficiently robust use of instruments available to it; the international - that, in its description and analysis of the steel market, the Commission does not deal adequately with increasing imports and thus bases its view on an excessively positive assessment; - that the Commission does not indicate how to face the social consequences of future mergers, rationalisation and introduction of new technologies and how to develop human resources to meet the future needs of the industry; - that important conditions for the forthcoming EU accession of Eastern European countries are not stated, i. e. : - that following EU accession there must on no account be any exemptions from the strict EU regulations on State aid, and the restructuring in these countries must be completed by the time of accession; - that the Commission has to make sure that the restruc- turing programmes of industries in these countries take into account the measures to alleviate dramatic social consequences and the involvement of social partners in the process, possibly by drawing upon the ECSC experience as a source of reference; the steel - that despite the Commission’s general support to sectoral dialogue, the document acknowledges the disappearance of the ECSC Consultative Committee while giving only vague indications about a new body to continue this positive the experience proposals on this important forward by the ECSC Consultative Committee. taking no account of after 2002, issue put CONCLUSIONS - Against of the tougher background international competition, the members of the Consultative Committee for agree with the statement a achieving the necessary regulatory framework for competitive European steel industry must be determined in close cooperation with the European Commission. The Commission actions clearly mentioned in the Communication will be implemented. the main actions how the should state that - In this connection it is necessary, inter alia, to ensure that useful elements of the ECSC Treaty are phased in to the EC Treaty in order to cope with the continuing expansion of the steel market and its increasing internationalisation and to face the consequent foreseeable future social problems, especially in the acceding countries. - The Consultative Committee hopes that in the Council the Member States will draw the necessary political conclusions from the Communication on the competitiveness of the steel industry in order to create a basis for the sustainable development of this industry. - In order to facilitate this follow-up, the ECSC Consultative Committee will put forward in the near future a document containing its political proposals on the main factors influencing the Competitiveness of the European Steel Industry