Fico: Energy Prices in EU Must Be Addressed Radically; We Propose ETS Holiday

     Bratislava, 20 January (TASR) - The issue of high energy prices, which threaten the competitiveness of the European Union (EU), must be addressed radically, and Slovakia proposes, as one of the options, declaring a four- or five-year moratorium on the application of the emissions trading system (ETS), Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has written in a letter to European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen, which he published on social media on Tuesday.
        The premier pointed out that the EC has been asked at several European Council meetings to submit specific proposals to reduce electricity prices for strategic sectors of European industry. "With all due respect to the work of the European Commission, I must say that I haven't seen any specific programme. I'm convinced that we must take a radical approach to this issue," stressed Fico.
        "One option I propose for the Slovak Republic is to declare a 4-5 year moratorium on the application of the emissions-trading mechanism. Such a decision would lead to a significant revival and boost to strategic industrial sectors," wrote the prime minister, adding that he expects that other alternatives for reducing extremely high electricity prices will also emerge.
        According to Fico, one of the factors influencing the EU's ability to exert adequate influence in the world is its competitiveness, which he described as "alarming." "The future of the European Union depends greatly on whether we dogmatically insist on sufficiently ill-conceived ambitious climate targets that destroy strategic European industry or whether we have the strength and courage to make meaningful reductions," he emphasised.
        Fico pointed to the negative example of a company called Slovalco, which had to cease primary aluminium production in Slovakia in 2023 due to "absurdly high electricity prices". According to the prime minister, this was one of the most modern and environmentally friendly companies in this field, producing 10 percent of the total primary aluminium production in the EU.
        "The situation in strategic industrial sectors is more critical in individual member states than it may appear in Brussels. The European Union will spend more than €380 billion to support Ukraine in its conflict with the Russian Federation, which has no military solution, and the conflict literally dominates the agenda of the European Council and the European Commission. It is natural that the citizens of EU-member states expect that the future of the EU, which is vulnerable without a strong economy, deserves the same attention and resources," added Fico.