Grain-oriented electrical steel products (GOES) are used in electrical equipment such as power transformers, which enable electricity to be transmitted across long distances – for example, from power plants to end users (such as factories, shops or private households). GOES are therefore critically important for the security of the European Union’s energy infrastructure.
After analysing input received from interested parties during an investigation launched in March 2026, the Commission concluded that provisional measures were urgently needed to protect a strategic EU industry that is under threat from high import pressure – fuelled by global overcapacities and the closure of traditional export markets.
The scope of the safeguard measures provisionally imposed today also includes laminations and cores, which are obtained after further processing GOES and are meant to be incorporated into power transformers. In addition, the scope covers a novelty in the sense that cores that are already incorporated in transformers are also included. As a result, the measures also provide protection to transformer manufacturers downstream.
A safeguard investigation must normally be completed within nine months but, in exceptional circumstances, may be extended to 11 months.
If safeguard measures are justified, the Commission submits a proposal containing the main conclusions of the investigation to the Safeguard Committee (comprising representatives of each EU Member State) for a vote. For definitive measures to enter into force, a qualified majority in favour is required in the Committee. This means that at least 15 EU Member States representing 65% of the EU’s population must vote in favour of the Commission’s proposal.
