On July 21, European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER) started legal action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for the annulment of the European Commission Decision of 27th April 2011 on the rules for free allocation of emission allowances for industries covered by the EU Emissions Trading Directive.
EUROFER stated that the benchmark that will allow the top 10 performers of the industry to get free allowances is set unfairly by the Commission. The benchmark set for the hot metal is at a technically unachievable level. "Nowhere in the world is a steelworks that could operate its plants at the level of this benchmark," says Gordon Moffat, EUROFER's director general.
With the Directive being implemented incorrectly, the EU steel industry, from 2013 to 2020 will receive 20 million fewer allowances than it would be eligible for under normal circumstances.
EUROFER underlined that since the 1970s the European steel industry has reduced its CO2 emissions by 50 percent and in the period from 1990 to 2005 by over 20 percent without reducing production volumes. However, current technologies are now at their limits for further significant improvement.