18 June 2026 – The European Council is meeting to discuss cutting bureaucracy and reducing energy costs – while its own institutions cheerfully continue to exacerbate precisely these problems.
EU Summit in Brussels: lip service to competitiveness
– whilst the CBAM and ETS are crushing small and medium-sized enterprises.
The European Council is meeting to discuss cutting bureaucracy and reducing energy costs – while its own institutions cheerfully continue to exacerbate precisely these problems.
The Agenda in Brussels: High Ambitions, Little Substance
The European Council is meeting in Brussels today and tomorrow. Alongside foreign-policy issues, the agenda focuses on European competitiveness and global economic challenges – specifically: simplifying regulations, reducing administrative burdens, lowering energy costs, and pursuing an ambitious trade agenda.
European Council President António Costa put it this way: “Europe must do its economic homework – but at the same time, fair competition at global level requires a level playing field.” Fine words. The only problem: in precisely these areas, the Council, Parliament, and Commission have recently done little more than place new burdens on the shoulders of small and medium-sized enterprises.
CBAM and Steel Tariffs: Bureaucracy Instead of Relief
The planned expansion of the still flawed and unfinished CO2 tax CBAM to additional sectors will further increase the pressure on SMEs – through more bureaucracy and additional CO2 costs. At the same time, new steel tariffs, combined with bureaucratic proof of melt and pour requirements, will hit the manufacturing sector above all. Some are already calling for the tariffs to be extended to downstream products – even though the U.S. example shows that downstream processors and consumers always end up paying the bill.
The Real Cause of High Energy Costs
When it comes to energy costs, Brussels also likes to conceal the real cause: the EU’s own high CO2 costs. As early as August 2023, the Scientific Advisory Board at Germany’s Federal Ministry of Finance concluded that European CO2 trading had become a significant cost component, creating disadvantages compared with other regions of the world. Extrapolated to the current CO2 price of around EUR 80, this means that almost 50% of the energy costs currently paid in the EU are attributable to the EU ETS and the associated charges.
Who Pays and Who Cashes In
The real scandal is this: while large energy-intensive corporations, particularly in steel production, are compensated for their CO2 costs every year through transfer payments amounting to billions, SMEs pay the bill through lost competitiveness and additional charges. The competitiveness boost the Council claims to be looking for is right under its nose: abolishing CBAM and the EU ETS would immediately release substantial funds into the economy and strengthen the purchasing power of EU citizens.
Brussels’ Real Interest: More Own Resources
But that does not fit the Commission’s agenda. It wants a larger share of EU ETS revenues for itself – under the Multiannual Financial Framework, an increase from the current 25% to 30% is planned as new EU own resources, in addition to the 75% of CBAM revenues already earmarked.
Whenever the Commission catches the scent of new own resources, experience shows that it will do everything it can to secure them. Cutting bureaucracy and improving competitiveness sound good in speeches – as long as no one asks who ultimately pays for them and who benefits.
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