The Guardian17 Jul 2026Macro
Automatically composed with AI from the cited sources
The free allocation of pollution permits to heavy industries like steel and cement would now phase out by 2038 instead of 2034, a timeline shift condemned by German Green MEP Michael Bloss as a "licence to pollute for even longer."
Context
The proposal provides the first detailed mechanism for the ETS softening flagged in the earlier Guardian report, specifying a four-year extension of free allowances for heavy industry.