Reuters: Bankruptcy News: EU unveils plan to halt European steel sector slide

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EU unveils plan to halt European steel sector slide Jun 11th 2013, 14:00 LONDON/BRUSSELS, June 11 | Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:00am EDT LONDON/BRUSSELS, June 11 (Reuters) - The European Commission unveiled an array of measures and recommendations on Tuesday to revive Europe's steel industry, hurt by tumbling demand and plant closures. The "EU steel action plan", presented by Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani, is the first comprehensive attempt by the Commission to stem the steel sector's decline since the Davignon Plan of 1977. The plan aims to cut red tape, boost apprenticeship schemes and innovation, create a level international playing field and study ways to lessen the burden of energy costs, which account for about 40 percent of steelmakers' operating costs. It also says existing EU funds should be used to ease the social cost of restructuring, which has caused the loss of 40,000 jobs in recent years, including the planned closing of most facilities at ArcelorMittal in Liege, Belgium. "The Action Plan is a good starting point, but there still is a lot of work to be done until our sector will substantially benefit from the proposals," Gordon Moffat, director general of European steelmakers association Eurofer, said in a statement. (Reporting by Silvia Antonioli in London and Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; editing by Jane Baird) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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