“This system is implemented to reduce CO2 emissions, and at the same time to enable the companies to come to CO2-free production lines. So if this is not achievable, and if this is not the right instrument, we should be very open to revising it, or at least to postpone it,” he said to loud applause from industry representatives.
“We should avoid everything that is jeopardizing the competitiveness of our industry. I’m fully in line with all those who are saying we have to do more on climate change,” he added, but if policies come “at the cost of our industries, at the cost of the [jobs] in our industry, this is unacceptable. And that’s the reason why I’m in line with everyone who says if this is not the right instrument, we have to talk about that and we have to change it if it doesn’t work.”
And while in a separate session, French President Emmanuel Macron warned against “killing” the ETS, he insisted: “Europe cannot define ambitious climate objectives while allowing its industrial base to disappear. High energy prices, combined with carbon costs, are accelerating deindustrialization and not decarbonization.”
ETS under attack
The ETS requires heavy industry, power plants, airlines and shipping companies to pay a price — currently around €80 — for every ton of CO2 they emit, a fee meant to incentivize investments in clean manufacturing, energy and transport projects. A declining portion of permits are currently handed out to companies for free to support them.
The carbon price has been rising gradually as the number of pollution permits available for purchase — and thus the emissions of the sectors covered by the ETS — reduces every year. While a growing number of countries are introducing similar carbon markets, the EU’s price is the highest in the world, with most other national systems trailing far behind.
In the run-up to the Antwerp event, the Austrian and Czech leaders as well as the CEO of Germany’s BASF chemicals giant and the Italian business lobby Confindustria had demanded measures to dampen the ETS price, arguing the fee puts EU industry at a competitive disadvantage.