One of the EU’s most important green transition instruments is the carbon allowances system. In February 2022, the price of carbon allowances reached €100/metric tonne, twice as much as the previous summer and five times higher than in the spring of 2020. This constant rise has provoked indignant reactions among industrialists, who warn of dire consequences for the European economy. In response to soaring electricity and natural gas prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many European industries have resorted to coal in order to ride out the resulting economic difficulties. Action by the Commission is now necessary to contain the rising price of carbon allowances, it being unreasonable to allow European companies with millions of employees to be thus affected by an unstable mechanism that depends on the vagaries of the market.
In view of this:
1. What action will the Commission take to ensure a balance between decarbonisation objectives and the survival of industrial activities?
2. Does it not believe that it would be a good idea to slacken this mechanism for the duration of the war in Ukraine?