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I voted against this regulation because I believe that Ukraine should have been exempted from the scope of this regulation. Such an exemption would have been in line with the exemption in the current steel safeguard, as stipulated in Regulation 2025/1153, which allows duty-free and quota-free access for iron and steel products, in order to help mitigate the impact of Russia’s war of aggression.
As it stands, Ukraine’s interests are not sufficiently taken into account in this regulation. The iron and steel industry remains a significant source of revenue for Ukraine, and maintaining access to EU markets is crucial to help sustain Ukraine’s industrial base and the viability of its economy amid a full-scale war.
This sector remains critical for maintaining economic activity and ensuring that Ukraine retains the capacity to rebuild and to integrate into the European economy in the future. We need to safeguard Ukraine’s ability to rebuild its infrastructure, sustain employment, and avert mass economic collapse or mass displacement. Closer integration of Ukraine into the EU’s internal market also serves the Union’s long-term strategic interests, by contributing to stability, reconstruction, and Ukraine’s long-term political, economic, and security integration into the EU.