The Alliance for a Competitive European Industry (ACEI), has expressed that the voice of European manufacturing companies with a combined EUR 5 trillion turnover a year and employing 23 million people, is united in opposing any further increase of the EU climate change objective beyond -20% until other major economies have also made substantial and binding commitments. “After the Copenhagen failure, the EU would be foolish to again unilaterally increase its GHG objective,” says EUROFER’s director general, Gordon Moffat. “Before Copenhagen, the Union affirmatively stated that it would only move to -30% if binding measures would be taken by other countries, comparable to the EU’s -20%. Clearly no other country has followed Europe. It cannot therefore credibly justify a move to -30%.” Not only the credibility and predictability of the EU’s climate change policy would be lost but also the industry’s competitiveness further damaged. “Steel already has to reduce its emissions in 2020 compared to 1990 by over 40% due to the ETS. Another 10% would be fatal”, warns Mr Moffat.
