#ChezPeachy #ItalyPeachy Italian ceramics in Brussels: without a change in the ETS, the sector’s survival is at risk
On 2 and 3 December, the senior management of Confindustria Ceramica, together with representatives of the leading companies in the sector, are in Brussels for a series of meetings with key decision-makers in European institutions. The aim is to explain that the Italian ceramic industry, a strongly export-oriented, highly energy-intensive and hard-to-abate sector, risks entering a systemic crisis within just a few years unless urgent, targeted action is taken. The industry currently consists of 248 companies, employs 26,000 people directly (40,000 including the supply chain) and generates more than €6.3 billion in exports. Yet its stability is being undermined by a combination of uncontrolled costs and an increasingly unsustainable regulatory framework.
The message from the Italian ceramic industry is clear: the current climate policy framework, combined with the soaring costs of the ETS, is rapidly eroding the competitiveness, investment capacity and employment prospects of the entire sector. Without an immediate review of European rules, deadlines and instruments, there is a very real risk of the progressive closure of European plants and the relocation of production to non-EU countries that do not have comparable environmental and social standards.
The delegation, accompanied by the President of the Emilia-Romagna regional government, Michele De Pascale, and Confindustria Delegate for Energy, Aurelio Regina, will meet Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, along with other senior representatives of the EU institutions.
The meetings coincide with the annual plenary session of the European Policy Ceramics Forum (EPCF), which brings together MEPs from various member states that are particularly exposed to the challenges facing the European ceramic industry.
“Our sector is also a world leader in terms of efficiency and emissions reduction thanks to investments totalling €4.3 billion over the last decade,” said Augusto Ciarrocchi, Chairman of Confindustria Ceramica. “But we now have reached a breaking point. The lack of realistic technological alternatives, together with the uncontrolled rise in ETS costs, risks cancelling out in a very short time everything we have built. The ETS system has effectively become a carbon tax that is suffocating our ability to invest. In just one year, investments in the sector have fallen by 20%, a decrease of €80 million that corresponds to the ETS costs paid by our companies and puts competitiveness and jobs at risk. Without immediate corrective measures, Europe will end up rewarding those who pollute outside its borders and penalising those who, like us, are genuinely investing in the environment.”
Graziano Verdi, Chairman of the European federation CET, gave an even starker warning: “Without swift and decisive action, the Italian ceramic sector will face a crisis similar to, if not worse than, that of the automotive industry. In the absence of corrective measures, competition from non-EU countries without any environmental constraints whatsoever will become unsustainable. We are not asking for privileges, but for fair and common-sense rules, such as the proper application of existing compensation schemes, the suspension of mechanisms for reducing allocated quotas, a CBAM that truly protects our products in both the EU and non-EU markets, and the extension of equivalent measures to smaller companies. If we fail to act now, the transition will become an industrial and social boomerang of enormous proportions.”
“We are here in Brussels to give a voice to an entire industrial district, the ceramic industry, which is a flagship not only for Emilia-Romagna but for Europe as a whole,” said Michele de Pascale, President of the Emilia-Romagna regional government. “We recently held an important meeting with trade unions at the headquarters of Confindustria Ceramica, an open and responsible discussion that confirmed the urgent need for a shared strategy to protect businesses, workers and the local community.
“The ceramic industry is a highly energy-intensive, hard-to-abate sector that has invested heavily in the ecological transition, cutting emissions and innovating processes. In Emilia-Romagna, we have some of the most advanced companies in the world, with modern, digitalised, highly efficient and sustainable plants. Penalising them with a disproportionate regulatory system, starting with the ETS mechanism, means undermining the competitiveness of the very companies that were the first to act responsibly, while at the same time benefiting non-EU countries such as China, India and Turkey, where environmental and social rules are far less stringent.
“In this way we risk increasing global emissions instead of reducing them, while putting thousands of skilled jobs in our region at risk. Emilia-Romagna will continue to do its part, but that is not enough on its own. Bold political decisions are needed at EU level to prevent the transition from turning into widespread deindustrialisation across Europe.”
“As Chair of the European Policy Ceramics Forum, I am pleased to host the 31st edition of Ceramic Days, which brings to Brussels operators, entrepreneurs, trade associations and political representatives from across Europe who care about the future of the European ceramic industry,” said MEP Elisabetta Gualmini.
“At a European level, we are committed to protecting and promoting the development of European manufacturing, starting with the first Industrial Plan, the Competitiveness Compass and the various simplification packages (Omnibus). The ceramic industry faces multiple challenges, from the excessive and almost unsustainable burden of ETS costs on a sector that has already made major progress in decarbonisation, to tariffs and unfair competition from countries such as India and China. We will discuss these issues with MEPs and European Commission officials, in the awareness that an innovation- and export-driven sector like ceramics, which makes a fundamental contribution to the wealth of Italy and Europe, must be at the heart of the European agenda.”
“Brothers of Italy wants to protect the important ceramic industry from the environmentalist excesses we have seen in recent years in the EU,” says MEP Stefano Cavedagna. “This sector requires large amounts of energy and has to purchase allowances to produce under the ETS system. It would face serious problems if the new European legislation defining the best available techniques and environmental limits for plants (BREF) were to be approved, because they impose completely unrealistic emission limits and technical requirements. These rules make our companies uncompetitive, at a time when they already have to cope with unfair competition from India and China.
“Either we halt the Green Deal or we will head towards deindustrialisation. We refuse to accept that our industrial sector in Emilia-Romagna should be shut down because of ideologically-driven environmental choices. The EU must change course. While the Italian ceramic industry has a responsible and tightly regulated environmental impact, other countries around the world have far higher emission levels.”
“We stand alongside our companies in calling for a reversal of the misguided European decarbonisation policies that risk deindustrialising the continent,” said Aurelio Regina, Confindustria Delegate for Energy. “The European Union, which accounts for 6% of total global emissions, has imposed a CO2 cost up to six times higher than any other part of the world where CO2 is priced, bearing in mind that only 25% of the planet has a system for pricing climate-altering emissions. European industry is responsible for 1.5% of emissions. Even if we were to eliminate them all tomorrow, the effect on the climate would be imperceptible, but the impact on our economic and social stability and on our welfare system would be devastating. Compared to twenty years ago, when the ETS mechanism was introduced, the price of gas has more than doubled. Adding an extra CO2 charge today simply penalises European production and pushes up energy costs. The current gas price already sends a clear signal to the market that can drive investment towards decarbonisation. What is needed now is a sense of responsibility and pragmatism on the part of the European institutions. They must immediately suspend the ETS system at least until 2030 and carry out a thorough overhaul of how it operates, excluding thermoelectric production from the scheme and introducing instruments capable of substantially reducing CO2 costs.”
