The European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) has urged European leaders to take urgent action to safeguard Europe’s industrial base.
Its President, Michel Giannuzzi, Chairman of Verallia, was at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, Belgium, today to represent the glass industry.
He said there was no resilient, safe, or strong Europe without a strong European industry.
He said: "The container glass sector is fully committed to delivering Europe’s climate and circular economy ambitions, and we are investing heavily in decarbonisation technologies. But industry cannot deliver the transition alone.
"EU leaders must act now to bring energy and carbon costs down, accelerate grid deployment and simplify the regulatory framework. This is not for next year, not for next week, but for today.”
The European glass industry is under severe structural pressure. Persistently high energy costs, rising carbon costs and an increasingly challenging global trading environment are weakening investment conditions across the continent.
For container glass in particular, production has declined sharply from its 2022 peak, and plant and furnace closures are taking place all over Europe, resulting in permanent losses of industrial capacity, strategic skills and high-quality jobs.
FEVE said there was a significant gap between political ambition and industrial reality on the ground.
Based on industry calculations, the 2026 update of EU Emissions Trading System benchmarks could, for some companies, double CO₂-related costs between 2025 and 2026.
Such cost shocks risk undermining investments and decarbonisation efforts.
The industry has called for urgent stabilising measures, to avoid sudden cost increases while preserving Europe’s climate ambition.
"With the right framework conditions, the European glass sector and the container glass industry in particular can fight to remain both a global leader in circular packaging and a pillar of Europe’s industrial strength," Mr Giannuzzi said.
