Published on
28/05/2026 - 17:53 GMT+2
Six European Union countries have raised renewed concerns over the bloc's carbon market, saying that the costs it links to pollution could force industry to relocate production outside the EU to countries with weaker environmental rules.
During a gathering of industry ministers in Brussels on Thursday, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Romania and Slovakia warned that their steelmakers, cement plants, aluminium smelters and chemical producers are being squeezed between soaring energy costs, geopolitical instability and tightening carbon rules under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), the bloc's carbon market.
At the centre of the dispute lies the upcoming revision of how many free carbon allowances industries receive. Brussels intends to tighten free allowances sharply for 2026-2030, the European Commission announced on 11 May, in some cases cutting them by up to 50% compared with the previous decade.
