Titolo completo
Steel Decarbonisation and Competitiveness: The Case for an Italian-German Dialogue
The steel sector plays a crucial role in the European Union’s economy, yet it faces significant challenges, including global overcapacity, rising protectionism and the high costs of decarbonisation. Italy and Germany are major players in this industry, but both require stronger and more coordinated action to balance competitiveness with climate objectives while facing challenges of the political, geopolitical and technological dimensions. This study assesses the state of the steel sector in both countries, highlighting both their shared and national challenges. It highlights pathways for strengthening cooperation between Italy and Germany – both bilaterally and within the broader European system – to generate mutual benefits for their industries and better support the sectors’ transformation.
Paper prepared in the framework of the project “An Italian-German dialogue on European industrial decarbonisation and competitiveness” and presented at the conference “An Italian-German Dialogue on Steel, Decarbonisation and Competitiveness” held in Rome on 27 November 2025.
Introduction
1. The steel industry: The state of the art
2. Short-term and long-term challenges
2.1 High costs: Energy, CO2 prices and green investments
2.2 Oversupply, trade fragmentation and global competition
3. EU and national policy responses
4. Enabling technological transformation pathways
5. Responding to geopolitical and geoeconomic pressures
6. Policy recommendations for steel transformation pathways
List of acronyms
