More than 100 companies have called on European Union leaders to reaffirm support for the bloc’s carbon-pricing mechanism.

The EU Emissions Trading System made the call ahead of a summit next week.

In a letter published Tuesday, the businesses said Europe’s security and economic resilience depend on strengthening its clean energy transition.

“In the current geopolitical context, Europe’s security and sovereignty hinge on building a more competitive and resilient economy,” the companies wrote.

They argued this can be achieved by reducing dependence on volatile fossil fuel imports and instead leveraging Europe’s clean energy potential, skilled workforce and strong innovation sector.

The signatories include industrial companies such as Salzgitter AG and Volvo Cars, energy firms including Vattenfall and EDF, as well as clean-technology companies and investors.

Under the EU’s carbon market, companies in sectors such as electricity generation, industrial manufacturing and aviation must purchase allowances to cover their greenhouse gas emissions.

The system currently regulates around 40per cent of the bloc’s total emissions.

However, as European industries grapple with comparatively high energy prices, several EU member states argued that the combined burden of energy costs and emissions allowances was pressuring key industrial sectors.

The companies behind the letter warned that weakening or suspending the ETS would not solve Europe’s competitiveness challenges.

“Weakening or suspending the ETS instead of fixing the root causes of Europe’s ailing competitiveness would be a serious misdiagnosis of the problem,” the letter said.

Introduced more than two decades ago, the ETS is widely regarded as the cornerstone of the EU’s climate policy and decarbonisation framework.

The companies said undermining the system would reduce investment certainty and threaten Europe’s industrial future.

A planned assessment by the European Commission is expected to examine how more revenue generated by the ETS could be directed toward further reducing emissions in the industrial sector.

(dpa/NAN)