EU leaders clash over how to set climate targets

European leaders are clashing over the impact of radical emissions targets on their citizens and businesses, as the costs of going green go all over the EU.

The summit, which will take place in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday, will be dominated by discussions on how to decarbonise parts of the European economy, with the bloc aiming to reduce CO2 emissions by 55% by the end of the decade.

In particular, the summit may open up questions for distribution green agenda because it will affect voter use revenue by increasing household energy bills, pumping prices, and increasing food costs.

Officials expect a divisive debate to pit the richest and most polluting aspects of richer western European countries in the south and east. As a sign that the debate could be controversial, the ambassadors clashed on Friday with a draft of the environmental impact of the meeting.

An EU official said the summit would see leaders in the climate debate “reaffirm their sensitivity and priorities” and warned that much of the compensation was “very difficult” to resolve.

One of the biggest struggles will be how to set emission targets for industries not dependent on the EU carbon price mechanism, as well as controversial plans to extend the scope of this emissions trading scheme (ETS) to sectors such as the automotive industry.

Poland is leading the payment of large economic compensations to alleviate the blow of the EU’s upcoming plans, which it believes will disproportionately target the poorest and most vulnerable households in the fossil fuel-dependent economy.

In July, the European Commission will propose legislative measures to establish a legal path for the bloc to achieve a renewed target of at least a 55 percent reduction. carbon emissions By 2030 – 40 per cent of previous commitment.

Brussels will propose some in-depth measures, including extending the potential of the ETS to retail sectors such as cars and heating. Going forward, households will have to pay a fraction of the cost of the record European carbon price on heating bills and fuel pump prices. The price of EU carbon has risen by more than € 50 per tonne of carbon in the last month.

The Commission will also announce the design of a carbon tax on imports. The measure is backed by EU companies, such as steelmakers, and is concerned about a decline in high-emission foreign competitors. But it has already created concern Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and other EU trading partners.

Brussels will propose new renewable energy targets and update forestry regulations to encourage carbon sink in Europe.

Reaching agreement on this series of Commission measures will be an unprecedented feat for the EU, which has embarked on one of the most radical decarbonisation agendas in any developed economy. The EU aims to become the first continent to achieve net carbon emissions by 2050.

But with the diverse mix of the nature, economic model and energy mix of the 27 member states of the bloc, decarbonisation is a consensus that will become very difficult.

Each element has the capacity to establish Member States. In the case of forestry, for example, the Czech Republic is concerned about its ability to meet its carbon reduction target due to the damage that beetles do to their skin in huge forests – a problem already denounced by Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

Leaders will also discuss how carbon reduction costs are distributed among the poorest and richest countries. The so-called regulation of effort-sharing, which accounts for 60% of all EU emissions, should be done proportionately less by poorer states than by richer ones.

The right is strongly supported by the countries of the south and east. However, countries like Denmark and the Netherlands want the commission to update the criteria so that richer and smaller countries do not bear the brunt of European decarbonisation.

With 40% of other emissions in the European Union covering the ETS’s carbon price mechanisms, Brussels must decide whether to extend the system to sectors such as buildings and cars.

Hungary is among the countries that have opposed the extension, while Poland demands a higher share of the system’s revenue for the countries that rely most on fossil fuels. Any agreement will require the support of an absolute majority of Member States and MEPs.

Bas Eickhout, the Dutch Green MEP, said the leaders’ summit was being held at a “bad time” a few weeks before the Commission’s proposals. He warned that the inclusion of sectors such as cars in the ETS should not allow motorists to escape the strict national regulations on CO2 emissions in force since 2019.

“Let’s hope the heads of state and leaders send a clear message to the Commission not to put all its eggs in the ETS basket,” Eickhout said.