Industry reacts to CO₂ price proposals ahead of coalition talks

Ahead of the government coalition talks, industry representatives have voiced concern over recent proposals on CO₂ pricing by German experts or French President Emmanuel Macron, writes Andreas Mihm in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “The German industry needs reliefs, not additional burdens through a CO₂ tax”, Eric Schweitzer, president of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), told the newspaper. A CO₂ pricing mechanism already existed within the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), and a national tax would be a double burden for German companies. Holger Lösch, deputy director general of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), said: “At best, the French nuclear power plants would profit, but not Germany as an industrial location.”

Read the article in German here.

For background, read the CLEW article Experts call for CO2 price to retain Energiewende’s credibility.