ABSTRACT

The European Community is the western world’s largest steelmaking bloc and, after the United States, its largest steel market. The imminent collapse of large segments of the Community steel industry prompted a succession of escalating market interventions by the governments of the Member States and the European Commission to stave off such a catastrophe. Many European facilities were antiquated and located at inland sites where transportation costs were significantly higher than at newer seaside locations. The Treaty of Paris, which established the European Coal and Steel Community, provides the legal foundation for the Commission’s actions regarding steel. The most divisive aspect of the steel crisis in the Community has been the issue of subsidies to the industry by the governments of the Member States. The Commission’s crisis measures sought to maintain price stability within the Community, primarily by limiting the quantity of various types of steel available in the internal market.