EC Claims Fossil Fuel Imports, Not Carbon Pricing, Are Main Drag on EU Industrial Competitiveness
EU climate commissioner Hoekstra said Thursday (2026-09-10) that fossil fuel import costs damage EU industrial competitiveness more than EU carbon pricing does.
Europe's industrial competitiveness is being squeezed harder by fossil fuel import costs than by EU carbon pricing, EU climate action commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said on Thursday (2026-09-10). "Our companies are paying massively to import fossil fuels," Hoekstra told Montel News. The statement runs against months of industry lobbying aimed at reforming the EU Emissions Trading System rather than reducing fossil fuel exposure.6
The market backdrop on Thursday (2026-09-10) gives the argument some grounding. ICE Brent crude front-month sat at $105.50/bbl. ICE Endex TTF front-month traded at €79.29/MWh. EUA Dec stood at €85.24/tCO2. Energy-intensive industries face all three costs simultaneously, but Hoekstra's position is that the first two are doing more competitive damage than the third.6
Industry has been making the opposite case for most of this year. RWE CEO Markus Krebber warned on Thursday (2026-05-21) that parts of Germany's industrial sector face failure without EU ETS reforms, Montel reported, citing the combination of carbon compliance costs and regulatory burdens as deterrents to investment. RWE is Germany's largest power utility.1
Italy's main employer federation pressed on the same front. Confindustria presented 10 proposals to cut carbon costs and protect industrial competitiveness ahead of the European Commission's ETS revision discussions, according to Montel. The group framed the ETS as a competitiveness threat requiring structural reform, a position Hoekstra directly challenged on Thursday (2026-09-10).3,6
The Commission was not entirely unmoved by those arguments. In July (2026-07-17), it proposed slowing the pace of ETS allowance reductions to 3.7%, framed as industrial support, Montel reported. That proposal has not been withdrawn. But Hoekstra's remarks on Thursday (2026-09-10) make clear that the Commission sees fossil fuel import costs as the more damaging competitive constraint for European manufacturers, not the carbon price.5,6
BASF's plans cut against the industry narrative on carbon costs. The German chemicals group, a persistent critic of EU carbon compliance requirements, plans to buy back €12 billion of its own shares between 2025 and 2028, Carbon Pulse reported. The buyback programme and the carbon cost complaints are running in parallel.2
ETS2 adds a further complication. Ten member states have warned Brussels that extending carbon pricing to transport and heating fuels risks imposing fresh costs on households already under pressure from volatile energy prices, according to edie.net. The ETS2 cap is designed to cut covered emissions by 42% against 2005 levels by 2030.4
European carbon prices have been volatile regardless of the underlying policy argument. EUAs pushed toward the €80 mark on Wednesday (2026-05-27) before afternoon selling cut the day's gain to 0.9%, Carbon Pulse reported — a session that showed how quickly EUA positioning can shift. EUA Dec stood at €85.24/tCO2 on Thursday (2026-09-10). At that price, the compliance burden on heavy emitters is real, though Hoekstra's argument is that fossil fuel import bills weigh heavier on European industry overall.2,6
The policy argument now turns on which diagnosis shapes the Commission's ETS revision. Confindustria's 10 proposals target carbon cost relief through structural changes to the allowance market. Hoekstra's position targets fossil fuel dependence instead. The two remedies are distinct, and how the Commission weighs them will shape the revision's scope — and with it, the trajectory for EUA Dec prices into 2027.3,6