LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, URSULA VON DER LEYEN Dear President of the European Commission, The era of gross violations of international law and the collapse of the world order in which we find ourselves is a severe test of the strength and capabilities of the European Union. Unfortunately, we are not doing well in this test, and the key global players do not feel, either subjectively or objectively, the need to take our positions seriously. One of the factors affecting the European Union's ability to exert adequate influence is our competitiveness, which is alarming. The future of the European Union depends very much on whether we will dogmatically insist on insufficiently considered ambitious climate targets that destroy the strategic European industry, or whether we have the strength and courage to make meaningful reductions. Due to absurdly high electricity prices, Slovalco, jsc., held by Norwegian and Slovak owners, had to discontinue primary aluminium production in the Slovak Republic in 2023. It was one of the most modern and environmentally friendly companies, producing 10 per cent of the total primary aluminium production in the European Union. If the company were to restart, production would increase by almost 20 per cent. The available data confirm that 1.5 million tonnes of aluminium production capacity was hence shut down in Europe in a short period of time and that we are dependent on imports of almost 5 million tonnes per year of this strategic raw material. While Slovalco, jsc. produced 4 tonnes of CO2 emissions per tonne of aluminium produced, in the countries from which we import aluminium to Europe, this impact is often as high as 20 tonnes of CO2 emissions per tonne of aluminium produced. The shutting down of the company resulted in the loss of 450 direct jobs and more than 1,000 indirect jobs. These figures are absurd and inexplicable. Dear Madam President of the European Commission, at several meetings of the European Council, the European Commission was requested to submit specific proposals to reduce electricity prices for strategic sectors of the European industry. With all due respect to the work of the European Commission, I must say that I have failed to notice any such specific programme. I am convinced that we must take a radical approach to this issue. One option that I propose on behalf of the Slovak Republic is to declare a 4-5 year suspension on the application of the emissions trading mechanism. Such a decision would lead to a significant revival and boost for the strategic industrial sectors. As the issue of high electricity prices is becoming increasingly prominent in more and more EU Member States, I expect other alternatives to reducing extremely high electricity prices emerging. Madam President of the European Commission, the situation in strategic industrial sectors in individual Member States is more critical than it may appear in Brussels. EU is spending more than 380 billion EUR to support Ukraine in its conflict with the Russian Federation, with no military solution. The conflict literally dominates the agenda of the European Council and the European Commission. It is natural that the citizens EU Member States expect that the future of the European Union, which is vulnerable without a strong economy, deserves the same attention and resources. Yours sincerely, Robert Fico