EU carbon prices wobble
European carbon prices slid more than 5% Tuesday after leaders signalled they might release extra emissions permits to ease energy costs — traders dumped allowances and warned repeated intervention could scare off clean‑tech investors. The European Commission is resisting a full carbon‑pricing overhaul and is instead backing targeted energy tax cuts while EU environment ministers met on March 17 to debate post‑2030 vehicle standards and the bioeconomy, a policy tug‑of‑war that could reshape market credibility. (reuters.com) (euronews.com) (consilium.europa.eu)
Ursula von der Leyen sent a letter to EU heads outlining specific options to lower power costs — including the possibility of making additional carbon allowances available — ahead of the leaders’ March 19 gathering. (bloomberg.com) The benchmark EU allowance contract traded down to about €65.37 on March 17, a one‑day decline of roughly 5.3% recorded by market trackers. (tradingeconomics.com) Market analysts point to concentrated speculative positions as a vulnerability: ING flagged a “large speculative long” in carbon and an auction calendar that shows only a marginal year‑on‑year drop in auctioned volumes. (think.ing.com) EU market supervisors have urged better transparency — ESMA’s recent monitoring report recommended stronger identification and oversight of market participants to limit volatility risks. (esma.europa.eu) Political pressure is rising: Italy has publicly called for suspending the ETS, and reports say EU leaders may request a Commission review of carbon‑price volatility with a delivery target around July 2026. (politico.eu) Environment ministers met in Brussels on March 17 under chair Alexis Vafeades with a tightly scheduled agenda that included a public session on CO2 standards and a live press conference slated for ~17:50. (consilium.europa.eu) Heads of government reconvene on March 19 where energy‑cost interventions are expected to be debated further, leaving the EU ETS framework politically unsettled ahead of any formal change. (bloomberg.com)
