UK asks European Union to help protect steel industry from collapse

October 28, London. On Wednesday, several thousand steel workers will march in front of Westminster Abbey in an attempt to draw David Cameron's attention to the fate of the UK steel industry. A parliamentary debate has been scheduled for today on the crisis in metallurgy.

British government business secretary Sajid Javid traveled to Brussels to hold talks with EU officials. On Wednesday, he meets with Cecilia Malmström, the EU's trade commissioner, as well as other senior officials.

Javid intends to take on the role of "savior" of the British steel industry, while the other members of Cameron's cabinet remain on the sidelines.

The business secretary plans to raise the thorny issues of steel dumping with EU officials and convince them to take urgent action to address the huge problems facing steelmakers across Europe.

“I want the steel industry to be high on the EU agenda ... We cannot stand aside while the steel industry across Europe, not just the UK, is facing such unprecedented challenges. The UK government wants to work with the EU and our European partners to do everything it can to support domestic metallurgy, ”Javid said.

To date, it has announced the layoff of more than 5,000 workers at metallurgical plants in the UK. This is every sixth employee employed in metallurgy. The shutdown of steel mills will affect at least 260,000 jobs in central England, the Midlands Steel Task Group (MSTG) said.

“I am acutely aware of the challenges currently facing our steel industry,” Sajid Javid said in a statement on Tuesday.

The main problem of the British metallurgy, according to trade unions, was low steel prices, which fell by 50 percent under pressure from imports and a twofold increase in electricity tariffs due to Cameron's environmental initiatives.

On Tuesday, the European Metals Association Eurofer issued an appeal to the European Commission, in which it said that the fight against global warming should not be accompanied by excessive costs for regional steel producers.