The European Commission plans to present reform proposals for the ETS on July 17. The aim is to strengthen the industry's competitiveness while simultaneously decarbonizing the economy.

© DIHK / Jens Schicke

Sebastian Bolay, DIHK Head of Energy, Environment, Industry Department, sees the reform plans as "an opportunity to reshape this central climate policy instrument by thinking about climate protection more broadly: international, innovative, and cost-efficient."

The key is that the EU Commission combines competitiveness with climate protection. Bolay: "Given the tense economic situation, there is a need for a realistic target path and adequate carbon leakage protection. Certificates should be reduced more slowly, integrate carbon removal, and include international certificates. Only in this way can emissions trading unfold its full steering effect in the future without jeopardizing the competitiveness of companies."

For operational transformation, DIHK believes that ETS requirements and infrastructure development must be aligned. "As long as electricity networks, hydrogen infrastructure, and transport and storage solutions for CO₂ are not sufficiently available, there are no opportunities for operational transformation," DIHK expert Bolay emphasizes.

"The DIHK has been advocating for the ETS as a central market-based steering instrument in climate and energy policy for many years," he recalls. "Emissions trading enables effective climate protection through price signals and avoids emissions where it is economically most cost-efficient."

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Find the DIHK position paper on the topic in a non-accessible version:

(only available in German)