Preliminary list of sectors deemed to be exposed to a risk of carbon leakage

12.9.2018

Question for written answer P-004621-18
to the Commission
Rule 130
Gilles Pargneaux (S&D)

In France, the dried onion sector is not currently eligible for the reduced domestic tax rates for natural gas consumption that are supposed to protect high-energy enterprises, because it is not on the European list of sectors deemed to be exposed to a risk of carbon leakage. Neither is it on the list for the 2021-2030 period that was presented on 8 May 2018. The dried potato sector, however, which produces potato flour, powder, flakes and granules, is included on the list.

The European dried onion sector is made up of just a few companies, which face stiff competition from companies based in countries such as India, Egypt, China or the US, which produce dried vegetables and herbs on a global scale and can do so much more cheaply given that they are subject to much laxer environmental laws.

When the European list of sectors deemed to be exposed to a risk of carbon leakage is updated, will the Commission add the dried onion sector to that list, as it has done with the dried potato sector?