The European People's Party (EPP) has urged Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra to significantly recalibrate the bloc's carbon market, the Emissions Trading System (ETS), by allowing more free pollution allowances to heavy industry beyond 2030.
Issued in an internal document detailing the EPP's position and seen by Euronews, the plea comes ahead of the European Commission's proposal to revise the ETS rules, due on 15 July.
The EPP contends that protecting Europe's manufacturing base has become as important as driving emissions reductions.
"The system has achieved these emission reductions in a market-based and economically efficient manner," reads the document. "Nevertheless, further adjustments are needed to safeguard industrial competitiveness and to ensure a more effective and economically sustainable decarbonisation pathway."
The ETS is the bloc’s mechanism for making companies pay for their pollution, with the dual aim of reducing emissions and encouraging industry to invest in more sustainable alternatives.
