Steel industry body Eurofer said last week that steelmakers had begun legal action to overturn the EU's treatment of the industry in the carbon market. Eurofer said that the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which allows the most efficient 10% of factories to get free pollution permits after 2013, sets a benchmark at which no steelwork in the world could operate. The emissions benchmark is part of an effort to reduce the windfall profits received by some companies after some industries received free permits to help compete with non-EU rivals. However, the steel industry has criticized the decision not to give credit for installations that recycle waste gases as an additional source of energy. "This is a clear infringement of the ETS directive, as the best performers will be short of free allowances," said Eurofer Director General Gordon Moffat. "It doesn't seem to be a very strong case, especially compared to the U.S. airline case," said Trevor Sikorski, head of carbon research at Barclays Capital, referring to an earlier case in which airlines argued that their inclusion in the scheme violated U.S. sovereignty. An analyst at Point Carbon said that he did not believe a victory for Eurofer would affect the overall ETS cap. See http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/21/us-eu-climate-steel-idUSTRE76K3JW20110721.