Important Signal / Market Stability Reserve should curb prices and not drive them up / Review in Summer


“This is a very important signal to the economy and to the people who are worried about their jobs. In the future, the Market Stability Reserve in the emissions trading system must ensure that prices are dampened and not driven upwards,” explained Dr. Peter Liese, the climate policy spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP-Christian Democrats), regarding a proposal made by the European Commission on Wednesday.

The Commission has proposed to change the regulations for the so-called Market Stability Reserve. The Market Stability Reserve was decided upon in 2015 to drive prices up in the emissions trading system. At that time, prices ranged between €0 and €10. Therefore, it was decided to remove surplus certificates from the system. Since then, prices have multiplied. The price recently stood at €70, and at times even reached €100. Therefore, the European Commission proposed on Wednesday to change the Market Stability Reserve. The regulation that from a quantity of more than 400 million certificates in the MSR, all additional certificates are to be deleted, is to be abolished. This is intended to ensure that in the future, if there are very high prices, there will always be enough certificates available to dampen the price.

“I will push for this proposal to be adopted by the European Parliament as quickly as possible, if possible even through an urgent procedure,” emphasized the CDU Member of Parliament. At the same time, he points out that attacks against the emissions trading system are completely unacceptable.

“The emissions trading system is the most successful climate protection tool in the world. Since its introduction in 2005, emissions in the affected sectors have decreased by 50%. Companies have invested in climate protection because they saw that these investments would pay off with the ETS. Performance must be rewarded - and that’s why we cannot disadvantage these companies now. At the same time, we need further reforms in the future alongside the changes to the MSR. The European Commission should make a proposal here,” said the MEP.