20 billion euros against energy crisis and for climate protection
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Environment Committee adopts compromise package on REPowerEU / Due to energy crisis, Parliament plenary sessions should take place in Brussels in winter / Travelling to Strasbourg and heating a second building not responsible, while we call on others to save money
On Monday evening, the EU’s Environment Committee adopted the financial cornerstone for REPowerEU. With a broad majority, MEPs adopted compromises that envisage auctioning certificates worth 20 billion euros from the European Emissions Trading Scheme earlier than planned in order to carry out investments in energy independence. "With this decision, we have come a big step closer to becoming independent from Russia on the issue of energy imports," said Peter Liese, European Parliament rapporteur on REPowerEU in the Environment Committee on Monday evening's vote. "We can now tackle several crises together. Firstly, the prices for CO2 certificates and thus energy prices will be curbed. This will help citizens and companies with energy costs this winter. At the same time, we can support the investments that we urgently need right now and get closer to our European climate goal. In the second half of this decade, we will have to take additional efforts here, however. Important for the EPP is that a large part of the funds must be spent on cross-border projects. There must be an end to nation-state egoism, such as France's behaviour of not allowing renewable electricity from Spain and Portugal into the rest of the continent in order to protect their own power plant industry,” declared Liese, who is also the environmental policy spokesman for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats).
Read more: 20 billion euros against energy crisis and for climate protection
Reduce burdens from European emissions trading in the short term without jeopardizing 2030 targets
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Generate €20 billion to mobilize investments in renewables, energy efficiency, and LNG terminals / Christian Democrats in the European Parliament want to strengthen REPowerEU further
The Christian Democrats in the European Parliament propose a short-term intervention in emissions trading to relieve electricity consumers and companies of costs in the next difficult months and, at the same time, generate money for necessary investments in renewables, energy efficiency, and LNG terminals. They want to focus primarily on cross-border projects between Member States.
Dr. Peter Liese, the EPP group's environmental spokesman and rapporteur in the Environment Committee for REPowerEU and European emissions trading, said: "We urgently need to react quickly to protect electricity customers and companies from unbearable costs. European emissions trading must also contribute to this. At the same time, we are still too dependent from Russian energy and need to finally stop financing Putin’s war. Moreover, we should not weaken but even strengthen our climate ambition for 2030 because the last weeks have shown that to tackle climate change is even more urgent.
Tackling together the energy price crisis, dependency on Russia and climate protection
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Dampening ETS prices and promoting investment / Environment Committee in the European Parliament agrees on text on REPowerEU
"We need to tackle the three major crises of our day at the same time. We must do everything we can to bring prices down so that citizens and businesses can survive the coming winter. At the same time, we must finally stop financing the Russian war of aggression through our energy bills and continue to prioritize the climate crisis, in particular the goals for 2030,” this is what rapporteur in the ENVI Committee Peter Liese believes is what the European Commission’s proposal for REPowerEU is all about. The European Commission has proposed to intervene in the European emissions trading system and thus generate 20 billion euros to promote investments such as in LNG terminals, renewable energy and energy efficiency so that we can become less dependent on Russian gas. Now the ENVI negotiators agreed on a text.
The proposal met with criticism from environmental groups, social democrats and the Greens because it would lower the price of emission certificates. The rapporteur for the Environment Committee, the CDU politician Peter Liese, sees this as an advantage: "In the current phase, we must do everything we can to curb the price of electricity in particular and to relieve companies that are on the verge of bankruptcy. That is why it is not just an unpleasant side effect, but rather a desired effect if we push the ETS price down now. The price was €20 two years ago and has risen to almost €100 for a short time. In view of the general situation, one cannot be happy about this development. Investments in decarbonization cannot be made so quickly that they provide sufficient relief in the coming winter. That is why it is important to dampen the price in the short term. However, the proposal that we have worked out in the Environment Committee provides that the certificates are not simply put on the market, but that certificates from the period after 2026 are brought forward. This means that the climate effect will remain until 2030. What is clear is that the relief we are giving now must be compensated for by additional efforts by 2030.”
Read more: Tackling together the energy price crisis, dependency on Russia and climate protection
ECDC and EMA publish recommendations on Omicron booster vaccination
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Omicron vaccines as booster doses / Recommendation for the vulnerable population / People over 60 and people with pre-existing conditions / Long-term care facilities and healthcare workers
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) now published a recommendation for the vaccination of the newly approved Omicron booster vaccines.
"Although the bivalent booster vaccines are approved for all persons above 12 years, the EMA recommends first protecting the vulnerable population with a higher risk for a severe disease course. I consider this recommendation to be very comprehensible. The EMA's recommendation is not binding for the member states. Still, I hope that the national authorities in member states will quickly come to similar recommendations," said the health policy spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP-Christian Democrats), Peter Liese.
Read more: ECDC and EMA publish recommendations on Omicron booster vaccination