It is necessary to introduce a CO₂ tax on the border of the European Union, to compensate for the loss of competitiveness that European industry faces in comparison with companies from non-EU countries, with much looser and less expensive environmental protection laws, said Marian Nastase, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the aluminum producer Alro Slatina, quoted by profit.ro.

He also said that, after the European Parliamentary elections, the American Chamber of Commerce of Romania (AmCham), of which Alro is a part, has tried to organize a meeting with the Romanian MEPs, which would have been stressing, too, this the subject, but the initiative has failed, because in the end a single representative of the Parliament was willing to attend the meeting.

“One of the topics we were planning to discuss with the Romanian MEPs was the need to introduce a CO₂ tax on the border of the European Union, which would equalize the playing field in terms of competition with industries and companies from countries outside the EU, where the environmental legislation is not as strict and costly, the fee being discussed at Union level. Meaning that is you want to sell products from Turkey or China, then the carbon footprint of that production, if it does not match European standards, is financially compensated.

”It is a very strong debate on this subject, and we will have representatives in the Trade Commission of the European Parliament, they need to know these things, because this will profoundly impact the Romanian economy. Europe leads the fight against climate change, but as standard bearers we are a little broke, like Gavroche, and if we don’t set this environmental tax on the border of the EU, in fact we work for nothing,” said Nastase, at a conference organized by Focus Energetic.