Italy industry leaders warn EU on climate goals

MILAN (Reuters) -European Union plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions could cause economic damage because they are so costly, Italian industrial leaders said in comments published on Wednesday.

Their remarks followed an appeal to EU leaders by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso not to sacrifice the fight against climate change to the urgent economic problems thrown up by the global financial crisis.

The EU has set goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels, saving 20 percent through energy efficiency and deriving 20 percent of power from renewable sources by the same year.

In comments published before an EU summit in Brussels, Emma Marcegaglia, chairman of the influential employers' association Confindustria, said Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi should veto measures to combat climate change if necessary.

The EU program would cost European business more than 180 billion euros ($245.9 billion) and Italian companies 20 billion to 27 billion euros for a reduction that would be "laughable," Marcegaglia was quoted as saying in Corriere della Sera.

"And that is not just in costs comparison. Europe will take them on, but the United States, China, India have no intention of doing it," she said.

Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo said Europe should convince major polluting nations such as the United States, China, India and Australia to make similar commitments.

Europe's pledges should not end up harming its competitiveness, especially in light of the global financial crisis, she said in a statement on the ministry's website.

Fulvio Conti, chief executive of power company Enel SpA, a major player in the carbon market, said European utilities could help peers in emerging economies cut emissions for an overall reduction at a far lower cost.

"The greenhouse effect is a global problem that cannot be resolved only with measures that are of a national or, worse, local nature," he said in an interview with Libero newspaper.

Giorgio Squinzi, head of chemicals industry group Federchimica, said in Libero the EU program would cost the European chemicals sector 40 billion to 60 billion euros in sales over five years.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Timothy Heritage)