"The Commission proposals on energy and climate up to 2030 will do nothing to promote an industrial rennaissance, rather they will accelerate the de-industrialisation which is already underway," says Gordon Moffat, director-general of EUROFER.

According to Eurofer, while there is a recognition of a widening gap in energy prices and costs between the EU industry and its competitors, no real measures are being taken to reduce it.

Furthermore, no account has been taken of the situation of individual industries regarding the availability of technologies that enable them to reduce emissions further.

Where the steel industry is concerned, EUROFER believes that there are no technologies which can be economically applied and that post 2020 targets are ''simply impossible'' for the steel industry to achieve.

EUROFER says that an EU ETS target of 43% CO2 emission reduction by 2020 compared to 2005 means a 60% reduction for the EU steel industry compared to 1990.

"With these proposals even the most efficient steelmaker in Europe will have a cost disadvantage vis-a-vis its non-European competitors," said Moffat, adding that even the most efficient of steelmakers will have to buy up to 30% of their need in emission permits by 2020.

"There are no proposals made to safeguard sectors exposed to global competition  in the mid-term and long-term, which is crucial for investment decisions," he said, appealing to EU member states and the European Parliament to adopt some principles which would make EU energy and climate policy workable for energy-intensive industry and sustainable for the EU economy.