Peter Liese on the Presentation of the Competitiveness Compass by the European Commission on Wednesday:
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Strengthening Competitiveness and Reducing Bureaucracy, No Contradiction to EU Climate Goals, but Probably the Last Chance to Truly Achieve Them / Acceptance of Climate Goals in the EU is Eroding, and Internationally We Are No Role Model if We Don't Make Corrections
Next Wednesday, the European Commission intends to present a document with guidelines for the newly started mandate. A so-called Competitiveness Compass will outline the key foundations for policy and announce many individual measures. The main focus is on regaining competitiveness, reducing bureaucracy, and speeding up approval processes. "We urgently need this reorientation of European policy. Not only in Germany is the economy struggling. The member states in Germany, particularly the coalition government, bear a huge responsibility for the problems. However, the European Commission also needs to correct the direction of its policy. Many people, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are suffering under excessive bureaucracy. In my view, this reorientation is by no means in conflict with the climate goals. I even see it as the last chance for us to be successful with our climate policy. Due to the many detailed rules and extremely long approval processes, acceptance of our climate goals is eroding within the European Union. If we do not address this, they will come under increasing attack. We as the EPP want to achieve the climate goals, but we want to do so with less bureaucracy, open technology, and while simultaneously strengthening competitiveness," said Peter Liese, the environmental policy spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP Christian Democrats).
1.5-degree target cannot be achieved, also not in the long term, but every tenth of a degree counts
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Peter Liese: Support negative emissions and, above all, negotiate hard with third countries
“The 1.5-degree target cannot be achieved, also not in the long term”, said Peter Liese, climate policy spokesperson for the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), in light of the latest Copernicus publications. The EU’ observation service found that the global temperature in 2024 was more than 1.5 degrees higher than in the pre-industrial era. “Formally, the 1.5-degree target is calculated over a 20-year average and if all major polluters worldwide now drastically reduce their emissions in the short term, there is a theoretical chance of still achieving this target, but especially in view of Donald Trump's election and his announcements, I fear that this is unrealistic. Nevertheless, climate protection must remain a priority. In Paris, a strict 1.5-degree target was deliberately not set, instead the Agreement says that global warming must be limited to well below 2 degrees and every tenth of a degree counts in this challenge. We don't know exactly where the tipping points are that will make it impossible to control global warming for our children and grandchildren,” emphasized Liese.
Climate Policy under Trump 2.0
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Peter Liese: Climate policy in times of Trump 2.0 will be extremely challenging, but if we do it right, we can still make progress
“Climate policy in times of Trump 2.0 will be extremely challenging, but if we do it right, we can still make progress,” said the environmental policy spokesperson of the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), MEP Dr. Peter Liese, on the occasion of Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday. “Trump is challenging us dramatically in terms of climate policy. I find it particularly worrying that major financial institutions have already terminated their membership in sustainability organizations before the inauguration. I have no doubt that Trump will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, just as he did in his first term. Partly because of Trump and his expected anti-climate protection policy, I am unfortunately convinced that the 1.5 degree target cannot be maintained in the long term,” said Liese on Monday morning.
Council Recommendation on Smoke-Free Environments
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Peter Liese: This Is a Pyrrhic Victory for the Enemies of E-cigarettes / Majority Accepts the Text, but Key Member States Declare They Will Not Comply
“I regret the voting outcome in the Health Council regarding the smoke-free environment topic, but I also believe it is a Pyrrhic victory for the opponents of e-cigarettes,” explained the health policy spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP-Christian Democrats), Dr. Peter Liese.
“Although a majority was reached for the essentially unchanged Commission proposal, many Member States have recorded that they consider the proposal immature and do not intend to implement it, which is also not legally required. In future debates, it is clear that key Member States, and particularly the majority in the European Parliament, do not consider the equal treatment of tobacco and e-cigarettes appropriate. In Parliament, we adopted an amendment from my group, which clearly that children and adolescents must be protected from e-cigarettes because they lead to nicotine addiction. However, the majority of the European Parliament views this as an aid for heavy smokers to quitting smoking. People thereby reduce their harm by over 95%. This will be an important guideline in all future debates in the EU,” said the physician and Member of the European Parliament.