EUMICON welcomes the Commission's ETS proposal and calls for a pragmatic framework for industrial decarbonisation
EUMICON welcomes the European Commission's proposal to revise the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), presented on 17 July 2026. The proposal is an important step towards aligning the EU's climate ambitions with the need to strengthen Europe's industrial competitiveness.
EUMICON particularly welcomes the continuation of free allocation, the more gradual adjustment of the emissions reduction pathway, and the stronger focus on reinvesting ETS revenues into industrial decarbonisation and innovation. These measures provide greater certainty for companies investing in the transition.
However, the ETS alone cannot deliver industrial decarbonisation. For many industrial mineral and metal producers, breakthrough technologies are still under development, while electrification and fuel switching depend on access to affordable clean electricity, low-carbon fuels and the necessary infrastructure. Without these enabling conditions, there is a real risk that emissions will be reduced through deindustrialisation rather than investment.
Therefore, EUMICON calls on the co-legislators to ensure that the final legislation:
- maintains effective carbon leakage protection until viable decarbonisation technologies are available at scale;
- provides a predictable investment framework with realistic conditionalities for free allocation;
- recognises the diversity of industrial mineral production processes when setting ETS benchmarks.
"The Commission has rightly recognised that climate ambition and industrial competitiveness must go hand in hand. The ETS should continue to reward investment in low-carbon technologies while ensuring Europe remains an attractive place to manufacture industrial minerals and metals. A successful transition requires not only carbon pricing, but also affordable energy, supporting infrastructure and policies that reflect industrial realities" - Roman Stfitner, EUMICON Director-General.