This position may complicate negotiations between European institutions on new protective measures for steel

The European Parliament’s attempt to add a ban on Russian steel to the EU’s new protective measures will complicate negotiations between European institutions.

By supplementing the proposal to revise protective measures in January this year, MEPs hope to stop Russian steel exports, while some previous attempts at sanctions have failed – such a move would require the unanimous support of the 27 member states.

Sanctions against Russia have blocked the import of most steel products into the EU, especially the most basic ones. However, the supply of semi-finished products is still allowed into the bloc, as Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Italy have asked to keep them available for companies that, according to their arguments, have no alternative sources.

Russia’s largest steel producer, NLMK, has sheet steel production assets in Belgium, Denmark, and Italy. Until recently, the Evraz conglomerate owned the Czech company Vitkovice Steel, but in 2025 it was sold to Jindal Steel International — the Indian buyer completed the acquisition of 100% of the shares in January last year.

In October last year, the EC proposed to almost halve duty-free quotas on steel imports and double tariffs on volumes exceeding them to 50%. Neither the European Commission’s original proposal nor the European Council’s draft contain a ban on imports of steel products from Russia. For this measure to take effect, the three branches of the EU will have to reach a compromise agreement.

If the ban on Russia survives interinstitutional negotiations, it may face the same legal challenges as the EU’s gradual abandonment of Russian gas, when there was insufficient support for sanctions.

However, the bloc needs to replace its protective measures immediately amid global overcapacity and Trump’s 50% tariffs on steel. The EU has decided to develop comprehensive legislation with an open-ended duration. The European Parliament does not usually participate in the imposition of sanctions, but the current legislative process allows Karlsbrod and her like-minded colleagues to push for a ban on Russian steel imports.

It should be recalled that, the European Union imported 4.55 million tons (-9.8% y/y) of steel raw materials of Russian origin in January-November 2025. The bulk of imports consists of semi-finished products: in the first 11 months of 2025, 3.19 million tons of these products (+9.9% y/y) were shipped to the EU. The largest consumers of Russian semi-finished products are Belgium, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Denmark.