The CEOs warn that Europe's industrial competitiveness is being sacrificed in the name of decarbonisation efforts that lack the necessary supporting measures.
A group of twenty chief executives from Europe's most energy-intensive metal producers have issued a stark warning to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urging immediate and decisive action to prevent the continent's accelerating deindustrialisation. Among the signatories is Evangelos Mytilineos, President of Eurometaux and CEO of Greek industrial giant Metlen, underlining the urgency of the appeal from across Europe's industrial base.
In a joint letter, the CEOs — representing major firms such as Hydro, Aurubis, Boliden, Trimet, Elkem, ElvalHalcor, Atlantic Copper and others — express serious concern about the European Union's current approach to supporting its industrial sector. At the heart of their message is a clear critique of the EU's draft plan for the new Climate, Energy and Industrial State Aid Framework (CISAF), which they argue fails to protect Europe's metal industry from unsustainable energy costs and lacks the tools needed to keep the sector competitive.
The signatories describe the European metals industry as being at a critical juncture. Despite being ready to invest tens of billions of euros in green transformation projects — from decarbonisation and expanded recycling to reinforcing the EU's strategic autonomy — the economic environment, driven primarily by exorbitant electricity costs, makes these efforts financially untenable. Last summer, electricity prices in parts of Southeast Europe soared as high as €900 per megawatt-hour, making local production of key metals such as aluminium and zinc increasingly unviable.
The CEOs warn that Europe's industrial competitiveness is being sacrificed in the name of decarbonisation efforts that lack the necessary supporting measures. They argue that the CISAF proposal focuses heavily on emission reductions, while offering no guarantee of affordable energy for the continent's energy-intensive industries. As a result, the industry is already seeing declines in domestic production and a shift of operations outside the EU — a trend they fear could become permanent without intervention.
The letter also criticizes the European Commission for introducing additional regulatory hurdles instead of solutions. For example, energy-intensive firms are reportedly being penalised despite playing a key role in grid stability, while restrictive eligibility criteria — tied to the carbon intensity of national power networks — prevent many firms from accessing support. Moreover, the technical requirements attached to existing and proposed aid schemes are seen as overly complex and counterproductive, slowing down the very investments they are meant to enable.
In their appeal, the CEOs call on the Commission to urgently revise the CISAF proposal to better reflect the economic realities faced by industry. They advocate for extending emergency state aid provisions, creating mechanisms for affordable access to renewable energy, and reactivating dormant production facilities that have shut down due to unaffordable electricity. They also urge Brussels to expand the scope of state aid beyond clean tech manufacturing to include the processing of critical raw materials — a sector vital for both economic resilience and the EU's green transition.
The letter closes with a forceful reminder that industrial policy must not be an afterthought. The signatories describe a rapidly closing window of opportunity: without concrete support, Europe faces a future of diminished production capacity, deepening dependence on external suppliers, and a compromised green transition. They reaffirm their willingness to work with the European Commission but stress that any successful industrial strategy must recognise one basic truth — without affordable, clean energy and focused support, there will be no competitive European industry, and no green transition to speak of.
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