EU urged not to roll back green agenda in effort to revive faltering economy

"Campaigners from the Climate Action Network, a pan-European group of NGOs, said European industry was under real pressure from high energy prices, ageing assets, global overcapacity and delayed investments, but these issues could not be solved by watering down climate and environmental policies. Deregulation is not an industrial strategy, the group wrote in an open letter, which argued that the problems facing energy-intensive industries, including steel, cement and chemicals, were driven by prices of fossil fuel-derived energy and global market dynamics, rather than environmental regulation."

"The EU economy has been under pressure over the last year amid Donald Trump's US tariff trade war. Last week the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, said the eurozone economy remains resilient in a challenging environment but the outlook was uncertain as it left interest rates on hold. EU leaders will meet in a chateau in eastern Belgium on Thursday to discuss the urgent strategic imperative of strengthening the single market, according to the invitation letter from the European Council president,"

"A day before that meeting the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will meet industry leaders in Antwerp. She will follow up a 2024 summit in the Flemish city when business leaders called for a European industrial deal to complement the EU's green deal as well as corrective measures on existing regulations. Since then von der Leyen's commission has proposed 10 omnibus proposals to loosen regulation across economic sectors, from the automotive industry to digital, defence, chemicals and farming."

Campaigners from the Climate Action Network warned EU leaders against rolling back the green agenda, arguing that high energy prices, ageing assets, global overcapacity and delayed investments are the real pressures on European industry. The group stated that deregulation is not an industrial strategy and that problems in energy-intensive sectors such as steel, cement and chemicals are driven by fossil-fuel energy prices and global market dynamics rather than environmental rules. The EU economy has faced pressure amid US tariff tensions. EU leaders and the European Commission will meet industry leaders as proposals to loosen regulation across multiple sectors proceed. Campaigners argued that weakening policies risks undermining the carbon price and the energy transition.

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