Open Letter
To:
Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen
European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero & Clean Growth, Wopke Hoekstra
European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen
Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Teresa Ribera
EU Heads of State and Government
European Parliament Political Groups leaders
The 77 undersigned companies, industry associations, and civil society organisations
call on the European Commission, the European Parliament and Member States to
ensure an ambitious and timely implementation of ETS2.
ETS2 is a cornerstone of Europe’s strategy to strengthen competitiveness, accelerate
investments in clean technologies across small and medium-sized industries, buildings and road
transport, and reach the EU’s climate objectives. The system will generate significant revenues
that should be used to support vulnerable households and enterprises in the energy transition.
This presents a historic opportunity to drive deep, structural transformation in the two sectors,
allowing households and businesses to take advantage of the long-term benefits of
a decarbonised energy system.
However, recent discussions on postponing and revising key elements of ETS2 risk
substantially weakening the instrument’s effectiveness and undermining the regulatory stability
that businesses and households rely on to make long-term investment decisions. The one-year
delay will cost Member States €50 billion in lost auctioning revenues1 and the suggested Market
Stability Reserve (MSR2) reform would significantly disincentivise the EU’s much-needed
modernisation of supply chains and increase the system’s carbon budget.
EU citizens2 and businesses3 see an ambitious and predictable energy transition as a solution
for prosperity, competitiveness and stability. In an increasingly tense geopolitical context, reducing dependence on volatile imported fossil fuels is both an economic and strategic imperative.
Thus, EU policymakers should ensure legal and investment certainty by swiftly
implementing agreed-upon legislation. ETS2, combined with complementary policies and the
effective deployment of associated revenues, including the Social Climate Fund and the EIB
Frontloading Facility, provides a cost-efficient pathway to accelerate clean and efficient heating
and transport while ensuring social fairness.
We call on the Commission, the Parliament and Member States to:
● Operationalise ETS2 in 2028, with no further delays or increased carbon budget.
Maintaining a robust and credible carbon pricing framework is essential to accelerate the
uptake of renewable and energy-efficient technologies and to strengthen European
competitiveness. Citizens and market actors require predictability to inform their
spending and investment decisions. Regulatory rollback pushes technology providers to
scale down investments, delaying adoption and disincentivising the much-needed
decarbonisation and modernisation of supply chains. In a volatile global geopolitical
setting, ETS2 will also accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels, contributing to the
Union’s energy security, resilience and strategic autonomy in a cost-effective way.
● Implement strong complementary climate, social and fiscal policy. The best way to
protect against the risk of too high prices is for Member States to introduce strong
complementary policies to reduce the demand for emission allowances, facilitate
investments and support lower-income groups. Complementary policies with a pre-2030
impact and a strong investment signal are particularly important, such as support for
renovations, renewable energy communities, heat pump roll out, public transport,
electric-vehicles, charging, storage and other energy infrastructure. Ambitious climate
policy promotes the development of EU lead markets for clean heating, efficient
buildings and zero-emission transport. This all strengthens the competitiveness of the
clean tech industry in Europe.
● Ensure broad transparency and public participation in national ETS2 investments.
ETS2 is set to generate hundreds of billions of euros in revenues that can help
households access clean technologies to reduce their cost of living while improving their
quality of life and drive decarbonisation. ETS2 revenues should be transparently
invested into energy performance of buildings, zero-emission transportation, renewables,
grids and flexibility, thus reducing the cost of the transition while safeguarding social
fairness. Stakeholders, including businesses and civil society, must be included in the
overall planning of how ETS2 revenues will be managed. This will ensure social buy-in
and provide certainty for businesses on the path to decarbonisation.
We call on the Commission, the European Parliament and Member States to protect the ETS2
and ensure its timely and ambitious implementation. Addressing these concerns is pivotal to
ensure the EU’s energy security and geopolitical independence, competitiveness, decrease
emissions and protect the most vulnerable.
The undersigned organisations (listed in the attachment).
- Öko-Institut (2025), The EU’s 2040 climate target Assessment of the proposal by the European Council. ↩︎
- European Commission (2025), Eurobarometer, Climate Change. ↩︎
- Corporate Leaders Group (2025). Strengthening Europe’s industrial edge: A business roadmap for
resilience and competitiveness. ↩︎