EU makes assurances to industries hit by climate rules
Europe's metal and paper industries may be given free emission allowances during the post-2013 phase of the EU carbon market, the Commission indicated in two communications announced this week
Brussels is hoping to prevent energy-intensive sectors from fleeing the EU as the bloc's carbon market becomes tighter.
"It is not in the interest of the European Union that in the future production moves to countries with less strict emissions limits," the Commission notes in its communication in support of the metals sector, announced on 25 February.
The EU executive is waiting on the outcome of ongoing international climate change negotiations, launched in Bali in December 2007, and has abstained from giving a clear 'yes or no' answer to questions about how Europe's energy-intensive industries could be protected in the event that the climate talks fail to produce a global deal under which competiting producers in third countries would be subject to EU-style emissions caps.
