European Parliament rejects faster CO2 reduction

MEPs rejected further cuts in CO2 permits from 2.2 percent to 2.4 percent per year.

Changes to the European Union's Emissions Trading System (ETS) anticipate a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The heads of state and government of the EU received general recommendations on this issue back in 2014. Detailed rules are very important, especially from the point of view of the economic interests of the metallurgical sector.

The fact is that EU enterprises receive free quotas or permits for pollution. In addition to the initial distribution to factories, it is possible to purchase additional quotas from other EU enterprises.

At the summit in 2014, it was decided that the reduction in emissions would be 2.2 percent per year, but the leadership in the committee of the European Parliament decided to raise it to 2.4 percent per year. This seemingly small difference is extremely important for the industry because it would help reduce quotas.

ETS covers 11,000 energy-intensive facilities in the EU. They account for 45 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. Many of these companies were opposed to increasing the rate of emission reductions.