A majority of Parliament’s three major groups, the EPP, Renew and the S&D, split in the vote on the bill.
8.6. 17:43 • Updated June 8th. 20:41
STRASBOURG The motion for EU emissions trading reform failed in the EU parliament on Wednesday. The proposal will now be referred back to committee.
At the same time, Parliament decided to postpone decisions on the EU’s social climate fund and the CBAM carbon limit mechanism, which are linked to emissions trading.
Referral back to committee is rare in the EU Parliament. It was assumed that Parliament would have approved the Commission’s proposals with additions and amendments.
– This is the worst possible outcome for the climate package at this stage. It kind of went back to the starting box, the left group Silvia Modig comments.
According to , the changes to the Environment Committee’s proposal presented in plenary were not ambitious enough from the point of view of the S&D Group and the Greens. There was disagreement over, among other things, the free allocation of allowances.
The progress of the climate package will be delayed
Restoring the whole will delay the progress of the climate package in EU decision-making. There are also no guarantees that climate ambition will be increased in further negotiations.
– I do not think that this action will produce any more ambitious results, the Coalition Party Henna Virkkunen comments.
Virkkunen estimates that Parliament’s negotiating position vis-à-vis the Council will weaken if the climate package is delayed. Swedish demarimep Jytte Guteland says the return was due to the lack of ambition of the center-right EPP group on climate issues.
By returning the motion, Parliament showed that the compromise on the table was not enough for the climate, Guteland said.
Central office Elsi Katainen Parliament’s views were incompatible with those of the Committee on the Environment, which was responsible for preparing the Committee’s work on the subject.
– The position of the Committee on the Environment is not the same as that of Parliament, it must continue to be remembered.
French MEP chairing Parliament’s Environment Committee Pascal Canfinin According to (Renew), the postponement of the decision reflects differences of opinion in Parliament on climate issues.
However, he believed a reconciliation would be found in the next few days or weeks. Katainen, a member of Canfin’s Renew group, hopes for the same.
– I don’t think this recent show will be repeated.
Zero emissions are desired for cars
Parliament also commented on aviation emissions trading, redistribution between Member States and the LULUCF regulation on land use and forestry.
According to the Commission’s proposal, a total target of 310 million tonnes of CO2 should be set for EU countries by 2030.
In addition, a proposal was made for an additional target of 50 million tonnes of CO2 to target land-based emissions from agriculture. However, the additional target was not supported by Parliament.
– Everything did not go as I hoped as chief negotiator, Ville Niinistö of the Greens commented after the vote.
According to Niinistö, however, Parliament’s position consistently promotes economic action to mitigate the climate crisis and strengthen carbon sinks.
The majority in Parliament also wants zero emissions for cars by 2035. In practice, this means a ban on internal combustion engines.
– It makes sense to accelerate the transition of the car market to the fact that in the future we will only have zero-emission vehicles, Niinistö says.
Parliament’s positions may still change in the course of further negotiations with the Council, which represents the Member States, and the European Commission.
20.35: The story has been updated with the latest voting results. The title has been edited.
What thoughts does the story evoke? You can discuss 9.6. until 11 p.m.