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No compromise on European interests
17.01.2008, 10:26
Speaking to MEPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday (15 January), exactly
a week before the commission is due to unveil a raft of legislative proposals
detailing how to each member state is to contribute to ambitious green targets
by 2020, commission president Jose Manuel Barroso indicated that the European Commission will not bow to the pressure coming from
several member states and soften plans to cut carbon dioxide emissions across
the 27-nation bloc by the end of the next decade.
"Both our international credibility and credibility before European Union
citizens depend on fulfillment of the targets", explained Mr Barroso.
In March last year, EU leaders agreed that the bloc should reduce its CO2
emissions by 20 percent and have renewable sources account for 20 percent of
energy production in 12 years time.Renewable energy in the EU currently stands
at 8.5 percent of production.
In recent weeks, as the commission fine-tunes its proposals, it has been
subjected to strong lobbying from member states who are keen to play down their
capacity to produce renewable energy and the extent to which they can be
expected to reduce their CO2 emissions.
France, Germany and Spain have sent letters of complaint to Brussels while
other countries are said to be supportive of the criticism of the commission.
In addition, the business lobby says that European companies will be
disadvantaged if they have to comply with stricter environment rules than their
counterparts in the US or China.
For its part, the commission has on several occasions argued that the EU by
acting now will have the advantage of moving into the green market first.
Its international reputation for being a flag-bearer for environmentally
friendly proposals is also at stake.
It needs the measures approved by the end of the year if it is to maintain a
strong moral standing in the international climate change talks beginning in
Copenhagen next year.
On 23 January, the commission is also due to unveil a proposal to strengthen
the carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) - under which pollution credits can
be bought and sold. The ETS is Brussels' key method for reducing greenhouse
gases in the EU.
It will also lay out what reduction in CO2 levels each member state has to
achieve by 2020 and what percentage of renewable energy each of the 27 has to
use by then.
In addition, it will propose a law on carbon capture and storage - a carbon
emissions reduction method that involves the storing underground of carbon
instead of releasing it into the the atmosphere.
The commission is also expected to announce an overhaul of the rules on
granting state aid for environmental project.