The European Union Competition Council held a special meeting in Brussels on the 9th to discuss how to push the European steel industry through the current cold winter. There are many reasons for the grim situation of European steel industry, such as the economic crisis in Europe, the rising cost of raw materials and energy, but some steelmakers are only targeting China, demanding that the European Union stop importing steel from China, thus protecting the European steel industry.

In this regard, the European Union Competition Commission failed to reach an agreement on the same day. A British steel worker told reporters that China could easily become a scapegoat for the British steel industry's slump because of its relatively low steel prices, but there are many other reasons for the lack of competitiveness of the British steel industry.

According to the official documents issued by the EU, steel belongs to the strategic industry in the EU economy, supporting many other industries such as automobile manufacturing, construction, electronics, machinery and electrical engineering. The EU is the world's second largest producer of steel after China, with annual output of more than 177 million tons, accounting for about 11% of the world's total production. There are about 500 steelmakers in the EU, distributed in 23 member countries.