On December 20, the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER) harshly criticized a December 15 decision by the European Commission and member states regarding benchmarks that set the level of free emission allowances for industry in the third emissions trading period from 2013 to 2020 under the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS).
In a statement entitled ‘Is the real aim of European policy the de-industrialization of Europe?', EUROFER said, "The climate change directive provides for free allowances for industry subject to benchmarks with the best 10 percent of performers in industry getting 100 percent of their allowances for free. Yet the benchmarks for steel just agreed by the European Commission and member states are substantially below this."
Pointing out that this is a violation of the directive, the NGO commented, "European policy is doing nothing to tackle climate change in an efficient and effective way. The European economy and population are the real losers from this approach. Unsurprisingly, no other economy in the world is following Europe's example."
The decision also makes capacity increases in industry almost impossible, EUROFER stressed, adding that "there is no longer any incentive for industry to invest in capacities or jobs in Europe."