Situation of the steel industry in Europe
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 3 and 4 October 1983 (20th and 21st Sittings)
(see Doc. 5116, report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development). Text adopted by the Assembly on
4 October 1983 (21st Sitting).
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Considering the report on the situation of the steel
industry in Europe presented by its Committee on Economic Affairs
and Development (
Doc.
5116
) ;
2. Drawing attention to its
Resolution 785 (1982) on the activities of OECD in 1981, particularly paragraph 11
in which it invited OECD to review the world steel market and prepare
guidelines for restoring some balance between supply and demand
;
3. Noting that demand for and production of crude steel have
fallen sharply in Western Europe since 1974, particularly in member
countries of the European Communities, and that this adverse trend
seems set to continue over the coming years ;
4. Believing that the main reasons for the European steel industry's
decline are the economic recession, the substitution of other products
for steel, which is also being used more rationally, an investment
policy in the early 1970s which disregarded technological changes,
competition from the newly industrialised countries and the closure
of export markets ;
5. Noting that the decline in the steel industry in Europe has
considerably lowered utilisation of production capacity, caused
a slump in steel prices and resulted in huge loss of jobs in regions
often already hit by the crisis- in coal and textiles, for example-
and whose populations are losing their most vigorous elements and consequently
ageing ;
6. Observing that, initially, the member states supported their
crisis-stricken steel industries with huge subsidies and then embarked
on a policy of industrial restructuring in the steel sector ;
7. Noting that, like a growing number of industrial sectors,
trade in steel is decreasingly open and multilateral, being more
typified by bilateral agreements on voluntary restrictions of exports
;
8. Believing nevertheless that the European steel industry still
has a potential future provided it becomes profitable again by modernising
equipment and improving productivity so as to catch up with some
of its competitors ;
9. Having noted the activities of international organisations
in this field, particularly the Commission of the European Communities,
which since 1980 has been taking courageous action to combat the
crisis in the steel industry, particularly by the compulsory production
quotas introduced under Article 58 of the ECSC Treaty (manifest
crisis) and by restructuring the production system in accordance
with the "code on aids" approved by the Ten in June 1981,
10. Invites the governments of the member states of the Council
of Europe :
i to endeavour both
to incorporate the restructuring of the European steel industry
in an industrial policy to be implemented throughout the Council
of Europe and to honour undertakings ;
ii to give their steel producers aid only if it results in
projects for rationalising, consolidating and modernising production
units and so restoring international competitiveness, and develops
research in the steel industry ;
iii to give consideration, in their endeavours to restructure,
to a reduction in overall production capacity in Europe according
to a programme to be decided in consultation with the trade unions,
the employers' organisations and the companies concerned ;
iv to favour the crisis-stricken steel-producing regions
by implementing a suitable regional planning policy embodying an
important industrial diversification and the setting up of new industries
able to absorb excess labour, for example in the fields of energy-saving
and the development of new sourcesof energy ;
v to make extensive use of the Council of Europe Resettlement
Fund in financing schemes whichgenerate employment in regions particularly
affected by the crisis in the steel industry ;
vi to take energetic steps to retrain workers and reorganise
work in the steel industry, particularly :
a by ensuring that retraining accords with the regions'
industrial development objectives, vocationaltraining for young
people having first priority ;
b by promoting the reorganisation of working time by :
10.6.2.1 eliminating overtime with a
view to creating new jobs ;
10.6.2.2 more widespread early retirement ;
10.6.2.3 assistance to part-time workers ; and
10.6.2.4 negotiated reduction of working time and the introduction
of the five-shift system ;
vii to institute regular consultation between public authorities
and both sides of industry, as in Luxembourg when the "Steel Tripartite"
was established in 1977 ;
11. Approves in outline the policy for restructuring the steel
industry implemented under the Commission of the European Communities,
but, being apprehensive about their social implications, urges the
latter :
i to pay greater heed,
in asking sacrifices of its member states, to the restructuring
each has already carried out in this sector, according to the spirit
of the European Community's "code on aids" ;
ii to clarify the measures taken under Article 58 of the
ECSC Treaty, particularly the criteria for fixing the quotas imposed
on member states and their companies ;
iii to develop the social measures in favour of regions hit
by the steel crisis by means of greater use of the European Regional
Development Fund and regionalisation of the European Community's
Social Fund ;
iv to collaborate more closely with OECD and EFTA with a
view to harmonisation of policies for industrial restructuring throughout
the industrialised world ;
v to discuss with third countries the impact of their domestic
policies on the steel industry of member countries, and in particular
the recent decision of the United States Administration to put special
steels under import control ;
12. Welcomes the European Parliament proposal of 18 November 1982
for a Steel Conference and hopes that its Committee on Economic
Affairs and Development will be closely associated with this important initiative ;
13. Urges UNIDO to continue to promote coordination and joint
planning of steel production levels by the industrialised and developing
countries, but to have due regard to considerations of social protection
and to general aims for improving working conditions in the countries
concerned.
