On Wednesday, June 29, the “Twenty-seven” agreed on the size of the European “social fund” to reduce the impact of the carbon market on cars and housing, which will allow the signing of five key texts of the EU program. climate.
During a meeting in Luxembourg, the European environment ministers agreed on a common position on reforming the carbon market, the goal of new zero-emission vehicles by 2035, the distribution of climate effort, and the setting of natural “carbon” targets. to dive in ”(forests, etc.) with the aim of negotiating with the Members of the European Parliament to finalize these texts. But the Social Climate Fund’s proposal, another key part of the European Commission’s July 2021 plan, was the subject of bitter negotiations until late at night, threatening to block the agreement on the other texts of the package.
The European plan envisages requiring fuel and heating oil suppliers to buy quotas to cover their CO2 emissions in the new carbon market, as is already the case for some suppliers of electricity. Concerned about the additional costs for consumers, Brussels has proposed the creation of a “social fund” fed by the revenues of the new carbon market for “housing and motor transport” to compensate for the potential impact of rising prices on vulnerable households through direct assistance. ֆինանս Financing of works reducing their consumption.
Agreeing on the principle, Twenty-seven disagreed on the size of the fund. Brussels had a target of 72.2 billion euros for 2025-2032, which is too high for the so-called group. “Saver” (Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland …). Berlin proposed to minimize the share of revenues from the new carbon market to the fund, bringing it to 20 billion euros, so that most of these revenues go to national budgets. Germany finally increased its offer to 48 billion on Tuesday. In contrast, in many Eastern European countries, the social mechanism was largely inadequate.
France, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, has amassed a majority of 59 billion euros for a more limited period of time (2027-2032), redirecting 11.5 billion euros to the Social Fund. euro from carbon market revenues. were originally intended for the European Innovation Fund. This strategy has made it possible to increase the social fund without further reducing carbon emissions to the United States, which is a red line for “economists”. The agreement did not convince Poland, which condemned “decisions that threaten to undermine popular support for the climate program “. Latvia is also concerned “The fund is too small, unable to respond to the challenges encountered”ունի hopes that it will be restored during the negotiations with the members of the European Parliament.
On Wednesday, the countries also agreed to phase out free emission quotas for some industries as the tax on carbon imports from third countries increases in 2026-2035. The Council proposes a much more gradual reduction rate than that proposed by Brussels և European Parliament. . Free quotas for airlines will be abolished by 2027. Finally, the Twenty-seven approved the inclusion of maritime transport in the carbon market, but with adjustments. “Transient” for winter navigation, travel “Public Service” և Serving small islands.
Source: Le Figaro
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