With 340 votes to 265, it was a surprising no for the proposal on emissions trading for which the German Christian Democrat Peter Liese was responsible in the European Parliament.
He’s really bitter.
– A bad day for the European Parliament. It is a shame that in much of this, the far right, the Socialists and the Greens voted together, Liese said in the plenary hall in Strasbourg.
The entire treatment of the so-called ETS system now instead goes back to new management in Parliament’s Environment Committee.
Thus, the whole reform risks dragging on.
Criticism in several directions
The reactions are sharp, with criticism directed in different directions.
“A dark day for Europe and for the climate when the (conservative party group) EPP betrayed and the outer edges of the European Parliament on the left, right and green rejected the proposal for a sharper climate policy. Shame on future generations “, greets Swedish member Karin Karlsbro (L) via text message.
“The Social Democratic group thus did something in common with the far right and the far left and defeated the entire ETS. Calling it irresponsible is just the first name “, writes colleague Jessica Polfjärd (M) on Twitter.
“This is what happens when you lean towards the extreme right and liberals and water out everything that the committee decides,” writes Malin Björk (V), also on Twitter.
Fit for 55?
The ETS reform is part of Fit for 55, which is the European Commission’s name for the large package of environmental measures that was presented last summer. Despite the name, it is not about getting middle-aged people in shape before the bathing season – but rather about how emissions in the EU in 7.5 years should have decreased by 55 percent compared to the base year 1990.
The package contains 14 proposals, eight of which will now be handled by the European Parliament. They will then proceed to final compromise negotiations with EU member states in the Council of Ministers.
The proposal for the ETS update was by far the heaviest of the proposals being considered today. Among other things, the ETS proposal is about removing the number of emission rights at a reasonable pace. The basic proposal has been that 4.2 percent should be removed during the first year after the introduction, after which the environment committee wanted to increase that figure by 0.1 percentage points each year: to 4.3, then 4.4, then 4.5 and so on. Although it may sound a little, it is about several million tons of carbon dioxide.
Other issues today include the proposal to introduce a border adjustment fee – abbreviated CBAM in English and often referred to as “carbon dioxide duty”. CBAM means that imports of certain goods become more expensive from countries outside the EU with lower climate requirements. Among the goods are, for example, steel, aluminum and fertilizers.
Forest and cars
Other votes concern emissions from forest and land use, abbreviated LULUCF in a climate context. This is about how the forest can be used to naturally take care of carbon dioxide, for example through stricter requirements for clear-cutting.
In today’s very last vote, the question is when cars and vans that use fossil fuels should be phased out. The basic proposal is that no new petrol and diesel cars will be allowed to be sold from the year 2035, which is, however, challenged by the desire to proceed more slowly and “only” have reduced sales by 90 percent by that year.
No matter what line the European Parliament chooses, there is still a long way to go before final decisions are made. The compromise negotiations with the EU member states are expected to take place throughout the autumn and probably also in the spring of 2023. However, Parliament’s choice is important: not least given that the member states often prefer more cautious measures than those recommended by the European Parliament.