Germany Wants CO2 Relief For Energy Guzzling Firms
Date: 17-Nov-08
Country: GERMANY
"We've got to prevent companies from being threatened by climate protection requirements," government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a news conference. Wilhelm gave no further details and said negotiations were taking place.
The Financial Times Deutschland newspaper reported on Friday that Germany wants to liberate companies from charges for EU allowances (EUAs) if they produce more than 4 kilograms of CO2 per 1 euro of turnover.
That would free companies in the steel, glassmaking, cement, paper, ceramic, and chemical sectors from paying for permits.
The European Union aims to slash emissions of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) by a fifth by 2020 with the help of the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the flagship of the 27-nation bloc's efforts to combat global warming.
The European Commission wants to force utilities to buy all such permits from 2013 and to phase in auctioning for energy intensive industries which compete in global markets.
(Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by James Jukwey)
