The European steel industry is relieved by the decision of the European Commission, dated May 26, not to propose a unilateral EU move from -20 percent to -30 percent in EU greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, as expressed in a statement released by the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER).
"Realism regains some ground in Brussels", commented EUROFER's director general Gordon Moffat. "It would have been absurd to take the economic downturn as justification for more ambitious climate change targets," Mr. Moffat said. "It is already a major achievement that the steel industry was able to keep employment almost stable during the crises while steel production fell by 35 percent in 2009. To force the industry now to keep production below pre-crisis levels would inevitably have severe negative consequences for employment and the European economy as a whole," he added. Moffat warned that "too stringent measures would only lead to a shift of production or production potential to other regions without any major improvements in CO2 efficiency."
As SteelOrbis previously reported, EUROFER had several times repeated its opposition against a further increase in the EU's greenhouse gas emission reduction target.