Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 8 • Number 17 • 3rd October 2008
European steel industry raises competitiveness concerns
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The European steel industry is calling for exemptions from tough climate measures in order to allay competitiveness concerns.
The industry demands come as lobbying in Brussels intensifies with regards to a legislative package on energy and climate change, which the EU is set to adopt by the end of the year (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 25 January 2008, http://ictsd.net/i/news/biores/9354/). The EU is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020, and the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) serves as a key tool for achieving the target. Industry, power production and airlines will all be covered by the ETS. Discussions regarding the proportion of emissions permits different sectors will have to buy, or get for free, are ongoing.
The European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) and European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER) are appealing to decision makers to “ensure a fair balance between climate change measures on the one side and the competitiveness of the European industry, sustainable investment and high quality jobs on the other.” They stressed that significant action has already been taken and cannot be hit by additional costs amounting to billions of Euros per year.
Specifically, the groups would like to see an improvement in the ETS proposal on leakage, benchmarks, waste gases, electricity costs and international agreements. As long as Europe is moving ahead alone, argue EMF and EUROFER, sectors susceptible to “leakage” – the relocation of carbon-intensive industries to countries with laxer regulations – these sectors should be allocated all their emissions allowances for free. According to a report by the European Commission, industries such as primary aluminium, hot rolled steel and slabs produced in basic oxygen furnaces and clinker would be facing competitiveness concerns unless all trading partners join global efforts to address climate change.
Additional information
To view the EMF-EUROFER statement, see http://www.emf-fem.org/press/press_releases/emf_and_eurofer_joint_appeal_to_the_political_decision_makers_on_the_revision_of_the_eu_emissions_trading_system
ICTSD Reporting; “Steelmakers Urge EU to Improve Emissions Proposal,” REUTERS, 3 October 2008.
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