![A factory in China, one of the sectors most likely to suffer the effects of climate change in terms of energy and transportation.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 16 9"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The European Commission also proposed this Friday that the EU set an electrification target for 2040 and that at least 46% of Europeans' energy consumption comes from electricity. At the moment, however, Brussels admits that the European bloc has been stuck at the same percentage, 23%, for a decade, and warns that efforts must be increased to achieve the climate goal. In this regard, the Community executive asks member states to take measures to make this a reality, such as increasing taxes on consumption derived from fossil fuels and ensuring that taxes on clean energy are never higher than those on more polluting energy. It also opposes the subsidies that many state and regional administrations in the EU still give to fossil fuels.In this way, Brussels aims to reduce pollution and, at the same time, its dependencies on third countries due to the high consumption of fossil fuels by the European bloc. In fact, for the European Commission, the energy transition is not only an environmental issue, but above all a matter of gaining autonomy.According to data provided at a press conference by the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing himself, Dan Jorgensen, the member states of the European Union have spent more than 50 billion euros additionally on fossil fuel imports due to the Middle East war and the resulting energy price crisis. In fact, the European Commission estimates that if the European bloc managed to double the electrification rate, as proposed by the Community executive, it would save up to 260 billion euros annually.On the other hand, the European Commission has also expressed its support for gradually replacing gas boilers with heat pumps, which it calculates would reduce the electricity bills of European households by up to 60% and help cool homes during high summer temperatures. In the same vein, Brussels has once again pointed to promoting the use of electric cars over combustion vehicles as a priority.
Brussels wants to allow industry to pollute more in exchange for green investments
The European Commission proposes to slow down the pace of reduction of polluting emissions
BrusselsNew reform from Brussels that lowers environmental ambitions. The European Commission has proposed this Friday that European industry can reduce pollutant emissions at a slower pace than provided for in current legislation. That said, in return, these factories will have to increase green and decarbonization investments.
The Community executive proposes to revise one of the most outstanding environmental measures of the European Union's Green Agenda, what is known as the emissions trading system (ETS). European regulations stipulate that companies must pay for the carbon dioxide emissions they release into the atmosphere and, in this way, contribute in part to the fight against climate change.
However, the European Union's plan is for these emission allowances to be gradually reduced, which raises the price of compensation and, moreover, forces European factories to accelerate their decarbonization and reduce pollutant emissions. Current regulations establish that emission allowances should be reduced each year by 4.4%, until 2039, when these types of credits would no longer be granted. In this way, the European bloc intends to achieve its climate objectives for 2030: to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 55% compared to the levels recorded in 1990.
However, faced with pressure from industry and a good number of member states, the European Commission is now proposing to lower this ambition and reduce the rate of reduction of credits for polluting emissions. Specifically, Brussels proposes to decrease these taxes to 3.5% from 2030 and to 1.7% from 2036.
On the other hand, the European Commission has also proposed to include in the obligation to pay for polluting emissions all types of private flights, and not just commercial ones. "It makes no sense that a family that, for example, flies from Brussels to Benidorm has to pay the emission rights for two adults and two children, while someone flying in a private jet can go back and forth without paying even once. This must end," said European Commissioner for Climate, Wopke Hoekstra, at a press conference.
The division of the EU
The fight against climate change is no longer a consensus priority in the European Union. More and more EU leaders and member states are calling for environmental requirements for companies to be lowered, and for months they have been calling to dilute the ETS system. Some countries, especially Germany and Italy, consider that these climate ambitions are strangling European industry, which they consider to be in a moment of competitiveness crisis.
On the contrary, there are other European partners, such as Spain or Denmark, who oppose the reduction of climate ambitions being driven by the Commission chaired by Ursula von der Leyen and are pressuring to prevent, for example, the pace of reduction of polluting emissions from being slowed down. For this reason, negotiations between the Council of the EU – the body representing the member states – and the European Parliament on the proposal presented this Friday by the European Commission are expected to be tough and long. In fact, the battle between the two groups of countries has already begun months ago.
