EC set to grant industry relief on carbon tradingEnergy-intensive industries are set to receive a huge cash boost from the European Commission European Commission, branch of the governing body of the European Union (EU) invested with executive and some legislative powers. Located in Brussels, Belgium, it was founded in 1967 when the three treaty organizations comprising what was then the European Community as part of a controversial move to protect Europe's industrial sector from world recession.Within weeks the EU is to debate whether to allow European industrial giants tens of millions of pounds off carbon allowances they have to buy as part of the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS ETS Educational Testing Service (nonprofit private educational testing and measurement organization) ETS Emergency Telecommunications Service ETS Electronic Trading System ETS Engineering (&) Technical Services ). Günter Verheugen, European Commissioner A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each Commissioner within the college holds a specific portfolio and are led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent of national ministers. for Enterprise and Industry, in an exclusive interview with The Observer, said the move will prevent hundreds of thousands of job losses in the EU industrial sector amid the worst economic conditions for decades. Verheugen said European industrial powerhouses are refusing to invest in new plants and businesses in the eurozone Eurozone Noun same as Euroland Eurozone n → eurozona, zona euro Eurozone n → zona euro because they claim 'compliance costs' caused by the emission trading scheme make new ventures too costly. Verheugen fears a huge surge in unemployment if the world's financial crisis escalates. The move will provoke opposition from green groups who will interpret the measure as a signal that Europe is putting economic concerns above environmental imperatives. Verheugen countered by saying that the allowance would be restricted to firms which invested in the most modern 'sustainable' technologies. They would, however, see a significant reduction in carbon credits, which would wipe millions of pounds off their cost base. Verheugen's proposals could be rushed through by the commission as fears grow over unemployment, which averages 7.5 per cent across the 27 EU states. 'I don't want to change the EU's environmental objectives because I believe that's economically healthy,' said Verheugen, who is close to Peter Mandelson The Rt Hon. Peter Benjamin Mandelson (born 21 October 1953) is the current British Commissioner of the European Union for Trade. Before taking this post, he was a British Labour politician, and served as Member of Parliament for Hartlepool for twelve years. , the former EU Trade Commissioner and current UK business secretary. 'Doing nothing on the environment will cost more than taking action ... [But] it makes no sense to force certain industries to leave Europe. They will take jobs and their pollution. As a result, there will be more pollution in the world and we will have fewer jobs. Deindustrialisation does not solve environmental problems.' The news will delight some of Europe's biggest companies, including French giant La Farge La Farge , John 1835-1910. American artist known for his murals and stained-glass designs and for his art criticism. and the British cement industry, which has lobbied strongly for this measure. The ETS is the largest emissions trading Emissions trading (or cap and trade) is an administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. scheme in the world and is a pillar of EU climate policy. It covers more than 10,000 installations in the energy and industrial sectors, collectively responsible for close to half of the EU's emissions of carbon dioxide carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. and 40 per cent of its total greenhouse gas emissions. 
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