Chancellor Friedrich Merz has stated that the EU must maintain its current course regarding the Emissions Trading System (ETS). This position comes from a letter addressed to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as reported by “Handelsblatt”. In the correspondence, Merz emphasized the critical importance of the EU ensuring investment security within the emissions trading market, calling the ETS a “well-functioning, market-based system that we must not question.”
The letter, dated last Friday, references the EU summit scheduled for mid-October, where the topic was intensively debated under pressure from several heads of state. The conservative politician further argued that European companies have developed their business models based on the expectation of stable CO2 price signals. Consequently, Merz aligns himself with those who oppose any relaxations to the emissions trading rules that would reduce the projected CO2 prices.
Currently, the EU Commission introduced the ETS reform in July, and the matter is undergoing negotiations between the Member States and the EU Parliament.
