FEVE: ETS review must keep European bottle glass competitive
After Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra’s 11 Sep ENVI exchange on the EU ETS review, FEVE says climate ambition and industrial competitiveness must move together — or carbon leakage will hollow out European container glass.
Climate targets without factories are just slides.
On 11 September the European Parliament’s ENVI committee heard Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra on the coming EU Emissions Trading System review. He stressed keeping climate ambition while adding pragmatism to how rules land. FEVE — the European Container Glass Federation — answers that for bottle glass that balance is not optional.
Container glass is energy-intensive. Decarbonisation speed depends on affordable low-carbon energy, infrastructure and breakthrough kit. FEVE’s line for the ETS rewrite is clear: reflect different sector pathways and technology readiness; give predictability for long-term investment; and stop carbon costs from undercutting European production. Climate policy only cuts lasting emissions if Europe still has the kilns that can remake the bottle.
The federation will scrutinise the forthcoming report from ETS rapporteur Peter Liese on competitiveness, carbon leakage protection and conditions for industrial decarbonisation — and plans to feed practical evidence from container-glass plants into the debate.
Mini-concept: carbon leakage means the CO₂ (and the jobs) leave for a looser jurisdiction while the wine still needs a bottle. You clean the ledger, not the planet.
Keep: when the brief promises a greener European bottle, ask whether the furnace that melts it can still afford to stay in Europe.
Remember: Hoekstra ENVI 11 Sep; FEVE wants ETS ambition + leakage shield; Liese report next.
Source: GlassOnline / FEVE