2040 Climate Goal in Parliament
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EPP for orderly but fast proposal / Agreement before climate conference in Belém still possible
"We as EPP are in favor of an orderly but fast procedure on the proposal of the European Commission for a 2040 climate target. This is possible even though the Parliament opposed an urgency request by S&D, Renew and the Greens today,” declared Peter Liese, spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP Christian Democrats) in the Committee for Environment and Climate.
“We couldn't support the urgency procedure today because some of our priorities were not accepted by other political groups. We insist on a proper involvement of committees, including the committees for advice, in particular ITRE. We want to make sure that the Parliament has enough time to discuss the proposal (in particular, we think the plenary should vote after the Council has fixed its position). We will immediately start to work on our position on the Commission proposal and try to improve it also in cooperation with the EPP representatives in the Council.
2040 Climate Target
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Peter Liese & Christian Ehler: Without flexibility, no 2040 target whatsoever / Enabling conditions key to achieve any target
“We think it’s very dangerous to criticise the European Commission because they intend to include flexibility in their proposal on the 2040 target. We don’t see a majority in Parliament nor Council for any 2040 target without flexibility. Even more important is that finally Europe will create the enabling conditions to actually reach any 2040 target, for example, for the ramp up of hydrogen, CCS and cheap electricity,” said Peter Liese, spokesperson of the biggest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) on climate, and Christian Ehler, spokesperson for the same group on industry, energy and research. While the EPP group didn’t fix their group position, the two MEPs expressed their personal views.
On Wednesday, the European Commission will present their legislative proposal for the climate target for 2040. The leak has been widely spread over the weekend and says that the target will be 90% as announced but 3% of the ambition can be met with reduction efforts outside the European Union, so called Article 6 credits under the Paris Agreement. Also other flexibilities are included in the draft proposal.
Motion of No Confidence Against EU-Commission
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Accusation of Corruption against Ursula von der Leyen is Absurd / In Spring 2020, the Vast Majority of Citizens Wanted Vaccines Procured as Quickly as Possible
“The accusation of corruption against Ursula von der Leyen is absurd, and I regret that it is being repeated without proper scrutiny,” said Peter Liese, physician and Member of the European Parliament, in light of the ongoing discussion about the motion of no confidence against the European Commission.
“At the beginning of 2021, there was a severe global shortage of COVID-19 vaccines. Many people were desperately waiting to be vaccinated. At that time, the European Commission was urged to accelerate the process and act pragmatically, as had been done, for example, in Israel and the United States.
EPP and its member parties should learn their lesson from elections in Canada and Australia
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Christian Democrats, Center and Center-Right will not benefit when they copy Trump
“The EPP and its member parties should learn from the elections in Australia and Canada”, this said Peter Liese, spokesperson of the largest parliamentary group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), after the two elections.
In both cases the conservative opposition, lost the election, because voters had the impression that they were too close to Donald Trump.
“I am convinced: The majority of the center and center-right voters in western democracies don't want a Trumpist policy. We need to improve the situation, reduce bureaucracy and keep control about migration. Radical solutions like stepping out of the Paris agreement are not valued by the voters. The future is a pragmatic market-based climate policy, social market economy that doesn't ignore the needs of those in need. Not Trumpism”, insisted Liese.