Summary
Cefic calls for a more realistic, flexible, and industry-supportive EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) beyond 2030, especially as the ETS cap is set to reach zero by 2039. The paper emphasizes the need to balance climate goals with economic feasibility and industrial competitiveness suggesting some main actions to take.
Key recommendations
- Adjust the ETS cap timeline to reflect technological and infrastructure realities.
- Maintain strong carbon leakage protection, including through free allowances and indirect cost compensation.
- Set benchmark values based on realistic, representative technological performance.
- Stop invalidating allowances via the MSR but reintroduce them instead.
- Integrate carbon removals and enable effective accounting for CCU and CCS.
- Ensure coherence across EU climate and energy legislation.
- Implement Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and explore ETS linkage with other systems.
- Redirect ETS revenues to support industrial competitiveness and create market demand for low-carbon products.