Ecocem calls for the maintenance of a clear, stable and ambitious carbon signal at European level.

The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is currently the main economic lever for decarbonization in the cement industry. By progressively internalizing the cost of carbon, it encourages investment in low-carbon technologies and the evolution of industrial processes.

Challenging the trajectory for phasing out free allowances would weaken this price signal and delay the investments needed to transform the sector. Maintaining the current timetable is essential to ensuring profitable and competitive decarbonization, rather than a delayed one.

In anticipation of the upcoming revision of the EU ETS, which will result in a legislative proposal expected in July 2026, Ecocem France makes two priority requests:

• maintaining the trajectory of progressive elimination of free quotas;
• the overhaul of the Innovation Fund to prioritize support for mature clean technologies that are ready for the market.

Thierry Legrand, Managing Director of Ecocem France, also co-signed an opinion piece calling on France to defend the ambition of the European carbon market, believing that a weakening of the EU ETS would compromise the investment momentum essential to achieving climate objectives and the competitiveness of European industry.