Details

Broad agreement on inclusion of maritime, increased ambition and many other points but significant differences in detail / Both sides have to move


European Parliament, Council of Ministers and European Commission will kick-start the trilogue on the revision of the emissions trading system on Monday at 12h45. “We want to send a strong signal that we don’t waste any time. I do not expect any decision at today’s first trilogue yet, but it is important to start the preparation at technical level as soon as possible and to prepare the important political decisions in the next months, definitely before the end of the Czech Presidency. To mitigate climate change, we need urgent action and all stakeholders including industry need clarity as soon as possible. It is very important that all the three institutions are aligned when it comes to the principal decisions of the revision. After many years of discussion, all three institutions agree that maritime industry needs to be included in the ETS applying not only to intra-European trips but also trips to and from third countries. It is very important that ships, that often burn very harmful fuels, will become cleaner and maritime has the opportunity to be a really clean and efficient industry. It is also agreed that we need a significant increase of ambition to align the ETS that is currently fit for achieving 40% target in 2030 to the climate law which demands us to go for at least 55%. Council and Parliament also agree on some elements for the protection of jobs, for example, a continuation of realistic calculations of benchmarks for the steel industry and it is very important that all the three institutions in principle agree on the ETS II for heating and road transport,” insisted Liese.

Details

Fair compromise for still very high climate protection and sustainable jobs

Last night, Christian Democrats, Social Democrats and Liberals agreed on a new compromise on emissions trading. Peter Liese (EPP, Christian Democrats), environment and climate policy spokesman for the EPP Group and rapporteur on emissions trading for the European Parliament, said: "I am very relieved and very satisfied. This is a fair compromise for the EU's most important climate protection instrument. Parliament's climate protection ambitions remain very high. The new emissions trading scheme will quadruple the EU's climate protection ambitions each year, while at the same time protecting against deindustrialization and safeguarding and creating future-oriented jobs. This is a clear improvement over the original proposal of the Environment Committee."

Details

 Good for the climate and good for jobs / 25 times more contribution to 2030 target than CO2 car regulation / Maritime transport, commercial road transport and buildings as well as process emissions for small businesses included


"Today's plenary decision is good for the climate and good for jobs. I am very relieved and glad that a large majority is now living up to its responsibility," commented the European Parliament's rapporteur, EPP MEP Dr. Peter Liese, on his colleagues' approval of the biggest climate protection law ever in plenary. "With this decision, we are making it legally binding that we save more CO2 in the next 8 years than in the last 30 years. That means we have to achieve at least 4 times as much emissions reductions per year. The ETS is the centerpiece of the Fit for 55 package: we are creating a reduction of 1.5 billion tons of CO2 with it, or 1,500 million . The controversial decision on CO2 cars will only bring 60 million by 2030 ."

The decisive factor for the large approval was an agreement between the three largest groups (Christian Democrats, Social Democrats and the liberal Renew Group) on the timetable for the introduction of the border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) and the phase out of free certificates for the affected industries such as steel, cement and chemicals. The agreement foresees that the reduction of free allowances and the start of CBAM will not begin until 2027. This is two years later than envisaged by the Environment Committee and one year later than proposed by the Commission. The start is also supposed to be very soft and cautious with only 7% burden for products from third countries and 7% less free allocation in the EU. Then, however, things are to move very quickly, with the mechanism taking full effect in 2032. That is three years earlier than envisaged by the Commission. "For us as EPP it is important that the new border adjustment mechanism is first carefully prepared and works really well before the free allowances are cancelled. The introduction of the mechanism is a mammoth project. It must first work technically and, above all, we need acceptance in the third countries. None of this can be taken for granted. If the free certificates are hastily reduced and disappear altogether without CBAM working properly, this could lead to massive job losses. If it works then, it can also be introduced completely quickly," Liese said.

Details

The far-right, Greens and Social Democrats wreck compromises on emissions trading / Referral back to committee makes sensible compromises possible, but diminishes Parliament's influence


A majority of the far-right, Greens and Social Democrats narrowly rejected the Environment Committee's proposal on emissions trading (EU ETS) and referred the issue back to Committee. European Parliament rapporteur Peter Liese said: "The Social Democrats and the Greens have failed to live up to their responsibility for climate protection. The proposal has tightened up the Commission proposal in many places and means more climate protection, e.g. we would have achieved a 63% instead of a 61% reduction in emissions trading in 2030. We would have included waste incineration, included shipping much earlier than envisaged by the Commission and there were many other points where we tightened up the Commission proposal. For the Greens and Social Democrats this did simply not go far enough. They wanted a 67% reduction and a higher one-off reduction at the very time when we are challenged by the crisis in Russia and the need to become less dependent on Russian gas. I think it is really indecent and I hope that we can correct the mistake. Personally, I believe that the Council of Ministers will find sensible compromises on all the contentious points, but it is a pity for the Parliament. Sincere thanks go to the Liberal group and my group who supported the report in the end, although of course not everyone was happy with every single point."

  1. More breathing space for industry and citizens
  2. Peter Liese on RePowerEU: Right approach / The devil is in the details
  3. Invitation to public consultation on the reform of the EU emission trading system
  4. Emissions trading reform: adoption of report in the Environment Committee with 62 votes