A one-hour stoppage in the plants to support the mobilization promoted by ESN – Electromechanics Synergy Network and call on European institutions to take concrete action to protect the electromechanical supply chain.
There comes a moment when words are no longer enough. A moment when it becomes necessary to make a concrete, visible, unequivocal gesture.
On April 28, Orange1 chose to stop production for one hour in its Italian plants in Montebello Vicentino, Arsie, Parma and San Mauro Pascoli, joining the mobilization promoted by ESN – Electromechanics Synergy Network, together with many companies across the European electromechanical supply chain.
It was not a strike. It was a signal.
A strong and clear signal addressed to national and European institutions: European industry is at a turning point, and the time for waiting is over.
The European electromechanical sector is facing unprecedented pressure. Operators from outside the EU are placing products on the market at prices significantly lower than European standards, often in a competitive environment marked by different rules, structural imbalances and non-comparable conditions. This is compounded by an increasingly complex European regulatory framework, which risks further increasing the burden on manufacturing companies.
The result is a supply chain under pressure from multiple fronts: from above and below, from outside and within. A strategic supply chain for Europe’s industrial autonomy, for skilled employment, for technological know-how and for the continent’s production capacity.
This is why Orange1, alongside President Armando Donazzan, chose to take part.
Joining ESN means sharing a clear vision: joining forces to build a common, credible and structured voice, capable of engaging with European institutions and calling for effective industrial policies. It is not about complaining, nor about relying on isolated initiatives. It is about acting together, overcoming corporate and national boundaries, to defend a common cause.
The Joint Statement signed in Brussels in December 2025 represented a first step. The production stoppage on April 28 was the second. It will not be the last.
The request is clear: extend safeguard measures to the entire value chain. Not only to primary steel production, but also to semi-finished products, processed materials, components and finished products. Because the entire supply chain is exposed. And the entire supply chain must be protected.
Deindustrialization does not always arrive with noise. It often advances silently and progressively. But when production capacity is lost, rebuilding it becomes difficult, sometimes impossible. Skills cannot be recreated overnight. Know-how is dispersed. People find other paths. And an emptied supply chain remains emptied.
It is time to act.
It is time to join forces.
It is time to deliver a strong and clear message to the institutions: European industry must be defended today, so that it can continue to create value tomorrow.