The European Steel Association (EUROFER) has warned that the proposal of the European Commission (EC) to withhold or remove allowances from the emissions trading system (ETS) will result in artificial increases in the carbon price.
The amendments to delay the auctioning of 900 million CO2 certificates from the EU emissions trading market for the next three years "will undermine the competitiveness of European industries and increase the energy bill for consumers even more," said EUROFER director general Gordon Moffat.
Given the economic recession the European industry has been experiencing, all the regulatory measures adding to the cost burden of the industry must be avoided, the statement issued by EUROFER said.
The EC's proposed structural measures include increasing the EU's greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2020 from 20 percent to 30 percent below 1990 levels, bringing more industries into the EU ETS.