Brussels, 17/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - As expected, greenhouse gas emissions from businesses participating in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) increased by over 3% last year, the European Commission reports in a press release on Tuesday 17 May. Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard opined that the emissions increase in 2010 reflected the economic recovery. She went on to state, however, that “even after the economy coming back to normal, the EU ETS emissions remain well below the cap for the 2008-2012 trading period”. She stressed that “the figures also show that some industrial sectors continue to build up a surplus of allowances to be traded in the third trading period starting in 2013. This highlights the flexibility that emissions trading offers to businesses and also confirms that more can be done to reduce emissions in the next phase at a reasonable economic cost.” (O.L./transl.rt)