Renew Europe MEP Andreas Glück has submitted a parliamentary question to the European Commission, warning that the forthcoming overhaul of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) risks undermining the investments of companies that have already spent billions on climate-neutral technologies. Glück argues that weakening the ETS too much would devalue those investments and damage planning certainty for the industrial transformation.
The question, tabled on 30 June 2026, focuses on three concrete asks: ensuring that early movers are not structurally disadvantaged by the ETS reform, preserving a reliable carbon-price signal to maintain investment certainty, and assessing the impact of ETS changes on private financing for industrial transformation projects. The MEP frames his concerns against the backdrop of high energy costs and geopolitical tensions that are already pressuring European companies.
Glück's intervention signals a policy orientation that favours maintaining or strengthening the ETS framework to protect early investments, rather than diluting the system to relieve short-term cost pressures. This puts him at odds with industry voices that have called for more flexibility or slower allowance reductions to ease compliance costs. The question implicitly challenges any Commission move to weaken the reduction trajectory or expand free allocations, which could lower carbon prices and reduce incentives for further decarbonisation.
The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks. Its answer will indicate whether it leans towards protecting early investors by keeping a strong carbon price signal, or whether it prioritises short-term competitiveness relief for energy-intensive sectors. The outcome will directly affect the financing environment for industrial transformation projects, as private investors rely on predictable carbon pricing to assess returns on green technologies.
Stakeholders most impacted include early-moving industrial companies that have invested in low-carbon processes and now face potential devaluation of those assets; energy-intensive industries that may benefit from relaxed ETS rules but risk losing the competitive edge of early decarbonisation; private investors seeking stable regulatory signals for long-term green investments; and EU climate policy credibility, as a weakened ETS could slow the bloc's progress toward its 2040 and 2050 climate targets.