Marian Năstase, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ALRO, leading EU aluminium producer, message during the reunion of Antwerp: It is time for a deep rethink – a New Industrial Deal

On February 26, 2025, 400 business leaders gathered in Antwerp to discuss with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, about the Clean Industrial Deal. Following this meeting, the European industry is calling for urgent action from European leaders ahead of the European Council in March.

Europe’s industries are facing historical challenges: declining demand, stalled investments, reduced capacity, and EU gas prices at 4-5 times higher than those of its competitors. Between 2023 and 2024, Europe’s manufacturing output - a sector employing over 31 million people - dropped another 2.6 per cent. While for the chemicals industry - the industry of industries - Cefic’s recent study emphasised the severity, with over 11 million tons of capacity announced to be closed between 2023-2024, affecting 21 major sites.

In turn, ALRO, presented at the meeting through Marian Năstase, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ALRO, raised a red flag by stating that most European industries are facing difficulties, and there is a need for the commitment of European authorities to engage to stop the delocalisation of the European industry and relaunch the industrial attractiveness, provide confidence and predictability for the European Industrial Leading Industries and Companies. The current tools available at the Union level are rather misleading for the political European leadership, with a lack of correlation with the market design.

ALRO has invested over USD 900 million in the last 20 years in technology, efficiency, and environmental sustainability. In a global economic context characterised by multiple crises, ALRO has managed to maintain its competitiveness and implement a strategy focused on a sustainable future.’’

The Antwerp Declaration remains an urgent call to revitalise Europe’s industrial landscape. European industries are ready to fulfil their role and continue supporting policymakers in building a competitive, resilient, and sustainable future for Europe in the context of geopolitical changes.

A Call for urgent action: Challenges and solutions, key insights from Marian Năstase, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ALRO

I have represented ALRO at the event, and I cannot but provide a few comments and remarks on European policies as I have perceived them from the meeting:

Do they attract investment to Europe?

No.

Today, the majority of the European industries, and not only the energy-intensive industries, are struggling in Europe. That is the main cause of the creation of the Declaration from Antwerp! The reason for the creation of the Declaration from Antwerp is to engage with the European authorities to stop the delocalisation of the European industry, which is a key value generator of the Union, a key source of quality jobs, and a primary vector of social, economic and defence security. And from this point over to, reverse the trend and relaunch the industrial attractiveness, provide confidence and predictability for the European Industrial Leading Industries and Companies.

Time to rethink.

Do they keep Europe safe & independent?

No

Strategic Importance of Aluminium for European Defence. Aluminium is a critical material for modern defence applications, including:

• Military Vehicles and Aircraft: Lightweight, strong, and corrosion-resistant, aluminium is essential for armoured vehicles, fighter jets, and naval vessels.
• Ammunition and Missile Systems: Aluminium is a key component in missile casings, advanced weapons systems, and precision-guided munitions.
• Space and Communications Infrastructure: European defence and intelligence rely on satellites, drones, and advanced aerospace technologies, all of which require high-grade aluminium.

The decline of Europe's aluminium industry threatens its ability to sustain and expand domestic defence production, increasing dependence on non-European suppliers and undermining security.

The same is valid for the steel industry and for massive parts of the chemical industry and other energy-intensive industries.

The current tools available at the Union level are rather misleading for the political European leadership.

From a declarative standpoint, the EU funding instruments—Innovation Fund, NextGenerationEU (2021–2027), Recovery & Resilience Facility (2021–2026), and REPowerEU (2023–2030)—are often presented as mechanisms to support energy-intensive industries. However, in practice, their core function is to provide sustained financial support primarily to the energy sector, particularly to an unbalanced renewable energy landscape.

A second major shortcoming of these funding tools—though not in order of importance—is their lack of alignment with the Energy Market Design. Notably, there is no reward mechanism for companies that demonstrate exemplary compliance and successfully achieve the objectives of the Green Deal, whether at the corporate or national level. In other words, a company that attains full compliance with energy efficiency or direct emissions targets—particularly if it does so without significant reliance on EU funds—receives no recognition or incentive. Despite fulfilling two critical objectives—advancing Green Deal targets while conserving EU resources—such a company is, paradoxically, disadvantaged. It becomes, in a sense, the 'foolish' company that failed to capitalise on 'free money' from the European Commission.

Introducing an order-of-merit system for energy-intensive consumers would provide both a well-deserved reward for high-performing companies and a strong incentive for the broader industry. This approach would mirror the existing order-of-merit system applied to energy producers, fostering a more balanced and merit-based framework. And this is just an example.

And we need to face the reality in which we are living today and tomorrow: we will not see electrical tanks very soon!

Time to rethink!

Do they lower energy costs?

No.

• Implement preferential long-term energy contracts for aluminium producers to stabilise costs and ensure competitive electricity pricing.
• Reestablish the nuclear energy base in Europe.
• Revitalisation of Energy-Intensive Industries: To aid industries forced to halt operations due to the energy crisis since 2021, we propose to maintain a stable allocation of free CO2 certificates for a six-year period (2025-2031).
• Restoration of Free Allocation: The allocation of free CO2 certificates should be reinstated to 2020 levels, reversing the reductions initiated that year.
• Enhancing Competitiveness: A 25 per cent increase in free allocation for aluminium and steel should be introduced to mitigate the impact of US tariffs on aluminium and steel, ensuring European industries remain competitive. This percentage may vary subject to the levies imposed by the US Administration on European steel and aluminium.
• Duty and Levies Exemptions for Strategic Sectors: In order to strengthen European industrial resilience and security, we propose an exemption from all duty and levies obligations for products listed under ETS, manufactured in the European Union, that are specifically intended for the national and European defence sector. This exemption would support the defence industry by ensuring cost-effective access to critical raw materials and products, reinforcing Europe's strategic autonomy.
• Expand compensation for indirect carbon costs under EU-ETS to 85 per cent of eligible expenses, aligning with policies in leading EU nations.
• Remove regulatory and tax burdens on energy consumption for strategic industries, particularly electro-intensive sectors like aluminium.
• Facilitate direct access to renewable energy through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) to reduce dependency on volatile energy markets.
• Accelerate the deployment of flexible assets across Europe in order to provide the necessary support for balancing the increase of new renewables capacities and make wind and solar energy affordable.
• Given the anticipated financial constraints at the EU level—stemming from countries' reluctance to increase their contributions in this area—and considering the new strategic and urgent priority of European defence, we firmly believe that H₂ pipelines, CO₂ pipelines, and CO₂ mineral injection/storage should be postponed by at least a decade. At their current stage of technological development, these initiatives risk draining billions of euros in taxpayer money while delivering minimal, if any, benefits—except, of course, for the companies that would receive these funds without tangible returns.

These are only a few practical and easy-to-implement ideas. Many more are floating around, ready to be discussed on a first-track basis.

Time to rethink.

Do they create markets for sustainable products?

Every sustainable product should be marketed freely, not in an administrative way. Is there a market for it or we are obliged by European law/norms/regulations to use it?

Time to rethink

Do they secure quality jobs?

Today, we see, unfortunately, the opposite. We see a strong focus on SMEs, but Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) cannot thrive in isolation. They depend on industrial clusters and large enterprises for stability. Instead of indiscriminately funding SMEs, the Union should:

• Strengthen industrial ecosystems that support SMEs.
• Prioritise investments in large industries that sustain extensive supply chains.
• Focus financial aid on innovation-driven growth rather than short-term consumption.

Also, as always, when things go south, we hear that we need to reduce bureaucracy.

Reducing bureaucracy has been a misleading political mantra for decades. The Roman Empire thrived for over a thousand years thanks to its bureaucratic structure, which ensured stability and order. However, bureaucracy must be:

• Efficient and mission-oriented, avoiding political decision-making.
• A tool for implementing strategic policies, not a substitute for political leadership.
• Streamlined when necessary but preserved as a pillar of effective governance.
• A weak bureaucracy means a weak state. A weak European bureaucracy means a weak European Union.

Time to rethink.

But…

While the general atmosphere was rather grim, there is hope, and there is a commitment on the industry side to engage at the highest levels with European authorities, with the European Commission, and with European Chair, President von der Leyen, to work together toward a common goal: to have a New Deal, to have a New Industrial Deal, to have New Clean Industrial Deal.

Note: This Press Release has been issued by Vimetco and has been published by AL Circle in its original form without any modifications or edits.