On the EU debate on climate ambition: "EU’s 2040 climate target requires swift agreement in the Council"
Date
Thu, 09/18/2025
Sections
Climate & Environment
Frankfurt/Brussels, 18 September 2025 – VDMA Chief Executive Thilo Brodtmann comments on the postponement of the vote on the EU climate target for 2040 in the EU Environment Council:
"If the EU wants to maintain its global leadership role in climate protection, it is essential that the EU Council reach a swift agreement on the 2040 climate target. A clear and unified EU position is crucial in the run-up to the COP30 summit in November."
"The Council's approach provides a necessary basis for constructive negotiations with the European Parliament to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040. A timely consensus will help to ensure that the legislative process towards climate neutrality by 2050 is effective."
"The proposed concept of including non-European emission reductions through trading of certificates is promising. It offers the opportunity to deploy climate protection technology more quickly worldwide."
"Climate targets require consistent legislation that can be implemented, especially by small and medium-sized enterprises. The mechanical engineering sector is a key driver of international climate protection measures, and its contribution must be consistently recognised in EU legislation."
VDMA Chief Executive Thilo Brodtmann
VDMA represents 3,600 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies. The industry stands for innovation, export orientation and SMEs. The companies employ around 3 million people in the EU-27, more than 1.2 million of them in Germany alone. This makes mechanical and plant engineering the largest employer among the capital goods industries in both the EU-27 and Germany. In the European Union, it represents an estimated turnover of 870 billion euros.
Around 80 per cent of the machinery sold in the EU comes from a domestic production facility.