Emissions trading has been extended to new sectors, partly to transport and buildings. At the same time, the climate fund and carbon tariffs were returned to new preparations.
Strasbourg
EU emissions trading reform collapsed in a european parliament vote on wednesday. The position taken by Parliament’s Committee on the Environment did not pass through the plenary, even after numerous amendments.
Of the 639 MEPs who voted, 340 voted against the reform.
Parliament decided to refer the proposal back to the committee responsible in clear figures. Parliament’s position on the matter is therefore still open.
This provoked a chain reaction in which it was also decided to return the Social Climate Fund and the Carbon Limit Mechanism to committee preparation. All three performances are closely related.
Political negotiations between parliamentary groups began immediately.
Emissions trading German MEP, who reported on the reform in the Committee on the Environment Peter Liese outraged after the vote, the right-wing EPP group accused the “far right, socialists and Greens” of voting together, which he considered shameful.
The Group of the Greens / European Free Alliance was dissatisfied with the fact that the amendments tabled by the Conservative and Center groups and which had been passed were in many places less ambitious than the Commission’s underlying proposal.
In the middle of the vote, the Socialist S&D Group requested a break in the negotiations and finally decided to vote in favor of the overthrow of the entire emissions trading proposal.
The right-wing right-wing groups, in turn, are motivated to vote against tightening climate action in general.
When the two motives were combined, the votes of the middle groups were not enough to go through emissions trading.
European Commission proposed significant reforms to emissions trading, including tightening the cap on emissions, cutting the number of allowances and phasing out free allocation by 2035.
Read more: EU MEPs Vote to Abandon Gasoline Cars and Other Climate Laws – MEPs Fear Rising Costs
In addition, the intention is to include maritime transport in emissions trading and to set up a separate emissions trading scheme for road transport and buildings. The committee proposed emissions trading for these transport and buildings only for commercial activities.
Prepared for emissions trading on the side of the Industry Committee Mauri Pekkarinen (Central) welcomed the failure of the Environment Committee’s proposal to return to preparations. In his view, the free allocation of allowances was abandoned in the proposal too early and did not pay enough attention to export sectors.
The tightening of aviation emissions trading was put to the vote in the form proposed by the Committee on the Environment. According to it, free allowances for aviation would be surrendered already in 2025, two years earlier than proposed by the European Commission.
Voting time continue throughout Wednesday. Among other things, the strengthening of carbon sinks and new emission standards for cars are still on the agenda.
The Commission made the proposals last summer. Parliament and the EU Member States are now at a stage where they are finalizing their positions on the proposed climate action.
The laws will not be finally adopted until all three, Parliament, the Member States and the Commission, have reached an agreement on them in the so-called trilogue negotiations.
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