Paper Workers and Industry Call for Safeguards over Unintended Effects of EU Climate Policies
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IndustriAll European Trade Union, representing the interests of the sector's workers and Cepi, the Confederation of paper and pulp producers, jointly call on the European Parliament to revise a number of aspects of the EU's 'Fit for 55', the Union's flagship legal package aiming to cut Europe's emissions of CO2 by 55% until 2030.
'Fit for 55' represents an opportunity for the paper and pulp industry, as its materials, based on forest fibres, are meant to displace sources of CO2 emissions by substituting less sustainable products. While its production processes can be energy-intensive, pulp and paper producers are frontrunners of the European industrial energy transition, having made substantial investments in green technologies and clean energy. Cepi members have also pledged to support the EU's massive tree planting effort.
The sector directly employs over 180.00 people, while the European forest-based value chain provides employment to 4 million workers.
The social partners of the paper sector fully support the EU objective to reach climate neutrality by 2050 but insist that the 'Fit for 55' package must promote stable, predictable and effective protection for European industries. The package must strike the right balance between imposing economic burden on "made in Europe" industries and rewarding investments in decarbonisation.
Transformation Rather than Disruption
Trade unions and companies in the paper and pulp sector, represented by industriAll Europe and Cepi, are proposing to EU policymakers a set of measures aiming to ensure regulatory stability, competitiveness, and a socially fair transition:
• Promote the frontrunners of the European industrial energy transition by ensuring a level playing field in the internal market and guaranteeing investment security.
• Provide clear and stable rules for a carbon-neutral production in Europe.
• Provide effective carbon leakage protection.
• Limit the impact of energy costs on the industrial production.
• Recognise that a CBAM is not a universal tool to safeguard all EU ETS sectors against carbon leakage.
• Ensuring a Just Transition.
