29/07/2026 (Agence Europe) – The European Commissioner for Climate, Wopke Hoekstra, said, on Wednesday 29 July, that the Commission was proposing to increase free allocations from 2026 to 2030 for sectors subject to fallback benchmarks, such as the ceramics sector (see EUROPE 13912/3). He was replying to Spanish S&D MEPs Leire Pajín and Sandra Gómez López, who, on 13 January, questioned the European Commission, urging it to continue allocating free allowances under the Emissions Trading System (ETS) to European industries exposed to carbon leakage, such as the ceramic tile industries in Italy and Spain. They asked the institution about the measures planned to safeguard jobs and the short-term competitiveness of this sector, following the publication of the revised benchmarks for the allocation of free allowances, on 5 November 2025. This question gives a glimpse of internal divisions within the S&D group, which still has no official position on the ETS. (ND)