Speaking at yesterday's European Rotogravure Association conference in Brussels, Roto Smeets chief executive John Caris, who has attempted to bring together interested parties in order to broker a new EU protocol, voiced his frustration when he said: "The EU has no support to offer. No funding. We need to solve our own problems."

Caris said he estimated that Europe's top 10 gravure printers had already lost between €300m (£273m) and €400m of added-value "as a result of not consolidating".

Jean-Pierre Haber, of the EU Commission's Forest Based Industries unit, opened the conference with a presentation on "the restructuring needs of the European printing industry" that did little to address the specific concerns of the gravure printers present.

Haber declined to answer when PrintWeek asked whether the EU would waive any issues over large market shares in order for consolidation to take place.

Polestar chief executive Barry Hibbert said Haber's refusal to comment was "a pathetic response from a bureaucrat".

"It's astonishing when you look at the potential uncontrolled social costs the EU will have to pick up. They seem to be prepared to accept that companies will implode and go into receivership, rather than put in funds for restructuring," he stated.

Hibbert argued that print should be in the same category as some other industries that have been supported. "If we are not a special case, how can bricks, cars and others be different? We are pretty much in the same category as brick manufacturing and steel in terms of print's importance to economies."

Hibbert added that, as well as repatriating some £7m of gravure print for the UK market, Polestar is now "seriously exporting" to the continent as the exchange rate benefit previous enjoyed by competitors there has been eliminated.

"However, this by no means makes up for the fall in paginations across the group," he added.

Also see: Caris in talks with EU to push for consolidation