Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2015-11-24-Speech-2-712-000"
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"en.20151124.29.2-712-000"2
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"Mr President, by letting the blast furnace and the coke ovens at Redcar go cold on 12 October, the UK Government oversaw the end of steel-making in my region after 175 years, with the loss of 2 000 direct jobs and many more in the supply chain. Labour MEPs fought it, but today we do not want to see the same happening in Scunthorpe or South Wales.
Let us make no bones about it. The European steel sector is in crisis. Sites are closing, with thousands of well-paid highly-skilled jobs lost. It is worse than when Lehman Brothers crashed. I know; I led steelworkers at that time. We have had enough summits; we have had enough high-level meetings. Now we need to see action from the Commission and from national governments.
It is clear that the global steel market is saturated with overcapacity, especially from China, driving down prices to unsustainable levels. We need to modernise and strengthen our trade defence tools to make them more effective: acting quicker, tackling social and environmental dumping, and opening them up to give the workforce the ability to initiate complaints. Edouard Martin’s report offers long-term solutions to this crisis, and if implemented correctly it could put European steel on the path to a sustainable future. It should be supported when it comes to plenary.
Today I am calling on the UK Government to stop hiding behind their excuses for inaction, to stop blocking the vital reform of EU trade defence measures and to recognise that steel is a strategic foundation industry on which all of our manufacturing is based. Other countries have supported their industries within EU state-aid rules; other countries believe in industrial policy. But we have a Secretary of State who refuses to say the words. We in Britain like to think that we are different from the rest of Europe. But this is a difference which is killing our industries and communities like my own. It is too late for Redcar steel workers. Let us not let it be too late for other communities across Europe. Save our steel."@en1
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