Achema

Achema is a leading producer of nitrogen fertilizers and chemical products in Lithuania and the Baltic states.

Links

ID: 404665130963-63

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Virginijus Sinkevičius (Commissioner) and

2 Jul 2024 · Representative of Achema debriefed on company's economic situation which has been affected by the increase of prices for LNG and presented it's views on the ongoing revision of relevant EU legislation related to Emissions Trading System (ETS).

Response to Amendment of the free allocation rules in response to the ETS revision/Fit For 55

21 Dec 2023

ACHEMA welcomes the European Commissions initiative to amend Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 on the free ETS allocation rules by adopting a revised Delegated Regulation (Draft Delegated Regulation). The proposed calculation of the free ETS allowances (by using the median of the activity levels during the baseline period) only provides a partial solution to EU fertilizer manufacturers struggling with high energy prices and unfair competition from third countries. Furthermore, the proposed amendments will take effect for the free allowances allocation as of 2026 and thus do not solve the challenges that the fertilizer industry has been facing and will continue to face during the period from 2023 to 2025. We strongly believe that more action is needed to strengthen the EUs sovereignty and food security by ensuring its industrial base of domestic fertilizer manufacturers remains viable. We would therefore like to propose changes to the median calculation by including a force majeure clause for years of extreme drops in activity levels. Recital 15 of the Draft Delegated Regulation highlights a necessity to ensure that the historical activity levels are, as far as possible, representative of industry cycles and to reduce the impact of special circumstances, such as economic crises, (). After the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered another economic crisis in the EU, caused by high energy prices and sanctions on raw materials. Most European-based fertilizer manufacturers were forced to halt or reduce their production activities. As a result, a drop in production of more than 15% has led to a corresponding decrease in the number of free emission allowances allocated for the subsequent year. The EU institutions have already recognized, inter alia in an amendment to the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (2023/C101/03), that the Russian military aggression against Ukraine has caused an economic crisis. Based on this assessment and Article 29 of Directive 2003/87/EC (ETS Directive), we strongly believe that the situation can be considered a force majeure. The inclusion of force majeure while calculating the median could give much needed reprieve to the sector. It would serve as a temporary measure to rebalance the playing field for EU and non-EU producers until the entry into force of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Considering the above, Achema proposes to add: a new recital 16 as an exception to recital 15, whereby calendar years in which force majeure events have occurred should not be taken into account in establishing a baseline for the calculation of the median. a corresponding new paragraph 8 to Article 15 of Delegated Regulation 2019/331, to exclude any force majeure years from the baseline for calculating the median. a revised Article 2 of Draft Delegated Regulation regarding the temporal application of Article 1, paragraph 6 (corresponding to the new paragraph 8 to Article 15 of Delegated Regulation 2019/331) to allocations relating to the period from 1 January 2022 to reflect the occurrence of a force majeure event of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its ensuing challenges in the 2022-2024 period in establishing the baseline for calculating the median. Achema has proposed the specific amendments to the above-mentioned provisions in Annex 1 enclosed to this submission. Achema further explained the relevant context and the justification for our proposal in Annex 2. These amendments would be an effective mean to keep European fertilizer producers viable under the current, strenuous geopolitical situation without harming competition in the EU. It would strengthen the resilience and investment capacity of the EU fertilizer industry to lower their emissions and contribute to addressing food prize inflation and the challenge to global food security by Russias aggression against Ukraine. We remain at your disposal to discuss our proposal.

Read full response

Meeting with Janusz Wojciechowski (Commissioner) and

17 May 2023 · Discuss EU agricultural policy and topics around how to increase public investment in digital infrastructure, how to develop public and public-private direct payment schemes for farmers for long term carbon sequestration.

Meeting with Pedro Velasco Martins (Cabinet of Vice-President Cecilia Malmström)

27 Feb 2019 · Trade Defence Case UAN

Meeting with Arunas Ribokas (Cabinet of Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis) and Lithuanian Business Representation to the EU

13 Apr 2018 · State of play in Commission's review of antidumping measures for imports on ammonium nitrate from Russia