On January 21, the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER) released an open letter under the aegis of the Alliance for a Competitive European Industry (ACEI) to the presidents of the European Council, European Parliament and European Commission, on behalf of "European manufacturing companies with a combined €5 trillion turnover a year and employing 23 million people," expressing their opposition to any objective beyond a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, until other major economies have also made substantial and binding commitments.
Commenting on Europe's initiative on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, EUROFER's director general Gordon Moffat said, "After the Copenhagen failure, the EU would be foolish to again unilaterally increase its GHG objective. Before Copenhagen, the Union affirmatively stated that it would only move to -30 percent if binding measures would be taken by other countries, comparable to the EU's -20 percent. Clearly no other country has followed Europe. It cannot therefore credibly justify a move to -30 percent."
Moffat also warned the presidents of the European Union bodies saying, "Steel already has to reduce its emissions in 2020 compared to 1990 by over 40 percent due to the Emission Trading System (ETS). Another 10 percent would be fatal."