Position of the Alliance of Energy Intensive Industries on the Commission proposal to back-load (set-aside) EU ETS allowances
In July, the European Commission issued a proposal to postpone the auctioning of an as yet undefined number of CO2 Allowances until towards the end of the third trading period. The purpose is to ensure the ‘orderly’ functioning of the EU ETS. This is likely to be the first step in further regulatory proposals to intervene in Phase 3 with the overt intention of reducing the existing cap on emissions. This cap is already set to meet the EU’s requirement to reduce EU ETS emissions by 21% by 2020 from a 2005 baseline.
While supporting the EU ETS as a policy instrument to meet the EU’s climate objectives, the Alliance of Energy Intensive Industries is opposed to any modification of the EU ETS rules which would damage further
industry’s competitiveness. The EU must stick to the 2020 target formula agreed upon under the third Climate and Energy package and must not revise it unilaterally unless the carbon leakage issue is solved by a binding international climate agreement.
The proposed interference within the agreed policy framework will simply increase the costs for industry. By hampering predictability and by increasing regulatory risk of further intervention, it will also deter investments at a time when the EU economy is struggling to find a way out of the crisis. Instead, policymakers should focus on the post-2020 policy framework and endeavour to work out a scheme that makes the EU more competitive.
