Government welcomes agreement on carbon emission allowances

O Government today welcomed the agreement reached on the free allocation of carbon dioxide emission allowances to European industry for the period 2026-2030, stressing that it will have particular relevance for the ceramic sector.

This is an agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (EU), with the participation of the European Commission, on the free allocation of carbon dioxide emission allowances (CO2) to the European industry, in the framework of European Trade in Emissions Licences (ETS), for the period 2026 to 2030.

“ Understanding represents an important advance for the competitiveness of the Portuguese industry, with particular relevance to the ceramic sector, an activity with strong national tradition, weight in exports and high exposure to energy costs and international competition ", highlights the Ministry of Environment and Energy, in a statement.

According to the tutelage led by Maria da Graça Carvalho, the agreement responds to concerns expressed by the Portuguese Government in particular regarding the impacts that the review of the reference values for the free allocation of emission allowances “could have on strategic industrial sectors for Portugal, namely ceramics, glass and cement”.

“ The agreement now reached responds to these concerns by allowing the industrial companies concerned to receive free more CO2 allowances, reducing the need to purchase them on the market and hence the costs associated with their activity,” he adds, noting that up to 121 million additional free allowances can be made available across the EU, with an estimated value of around EUR 10 billion.

On the other hand, it will allow “establish specific reference values for certain industrial sectors”, he adds.

Cited in a statement, the Minister of Energy and the Environment points out that this agreement is “an excellent news” for the Portuguese industry, “in particular for the ceramics sector”, highlighting that this is a sector “with a long tradition in Portugal, consisting largely of small and medium-sized enterprises, with a strong export capacity, a high technological incorporation and that has made a very significant effort of modernization, energy efficiency and decarbonization”.

“ We cannot require our companies to invest more and more to reduce emissions and, at the same time, penalize them for this effort”, he adds.

In the same note, the Government also states that the free allocation of allowances “does not eliminate the environmental obligations of companies, which continue to have to secure allowances corresponding to their actual emissions, but allows for the reduction of the burden associated with fulfilling those obligations”.