Czech industry calls for revision of ETS and climate indicators
Czech energy-intensive industries, including the steel industry, have issued another call for political measures to ensure their survival. These include limiting price volatility for CO2 emission certificates and speculation, reinvesting ETS revenue into decarbonization, and revising climate indicators to reflect competitiveness, Kallanish notes.
In a joint declaration signed by the Czech and Slovak Steel Association Steel Union, industry representatives state that the ETS and the market stability reserve should be reviewed in 2026 in order to "limit excessive price volatility for quotas and at the same time reduce opportunities for purely speculative market behavior." the market," they note.
The associations aim for "a more predictable price change that will continue to create a clear investment incentive for decarbonization, but at the same time will not cause price spikes in energy-intensive industries or weaken their ability to plan production, modernize operations, and enter into long-term contracts.""fixed-term contracts," they continue.
In the meantime, ambitious climate targets for 2040 and 2050 should be reviewed, "based on an assessment of progress towards achieving the 2030 target and the real impact of existing regulations on competitiveness, employment and investment," they note. "The proposed emissions reduction target should be assessed taking into account a full understanding of its impact on industry and infrastructure and should be aligned with the decarbonization targets of other global players, i.e. China, the United States and India."
The parties also call for energy prices in the Czech Republic to be lower than the EU average for industry. The costs of network development and the introduction of renewable energy sources should be distributed in such a way that there is no sudden increase in prices. In justified cases, part of the system costs may be temporarily covered from the state budget.
"For the most affected sectors, we must introduce temporary, strictly targeted assistance or compensation if there is a risk of production cuts and job losses. We must advocate for the creation of a single EU energy market," they add.
Daniel Tamcina, president of the Czech Chemical Industry Association, another signatory of the declaration, says that electricity and gas prices should be reduced to 50 euros./MWh and 20 euros/MWh, respectively. In this case, the cost of ETS certificates should not exceed 30 euros per ton.
.Meanwhile, Peter Popelar, chairman of the Board of Moravia Steel, said in a post on social media that the ETS should be reviewed in order to reduce