Yesterday night, the EU institutions reached an informal agreement on energy efficiency regulations: The member states have to set savings targets and report to Brussels, how much they will reduce their absolute energy consumption by 2020.

The German chemical industry association (VCI) thinks that the commitment to absolute reduction targets is a fundamentally wrong and counterproductive decision. “This agreement is not effective. For an energy-intensive industry like the chemical industry such an absolute reduction goal could mean that production is limited to a certain amount. This would choke off growth we urgently need in Europe right now, “said Dr. Utz Tillmann, Director General of VCI.

Also, the VCI thinks that this will lead to a further increase of the already high electricity prices in Europe. This will reduce the ability to compete globally of European companies.

• Verband der Chemischen Industrie (VCI; German chemical industry association), Frankfurt, Germany