A further milestone was reached in Strasbourg on Tuesday 17 April towards implementation of the Paris climate agreement. MEPs endorsed the provisional interinstitutional agreement reached in December 2017 under Estonian Council presidency. It concerns the draft regulation establishing effort sharing between member states for reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the period 2021-2030, in sectors not covered by the EU emissions trading system (ETS).
The agreement concerns transport, construction, waste, agriculture and should collectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% compared with 2005 as a contribution to the EU’s global objective of a reduction of at least 40% in emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 (see EUROPE 11941).
The text is not perfect but it has the merit of being there, said the rapporteur, Gerben Jan Gerbrandy (ALDE, Netherlands), and many of the MEPs. However, the Greens/EFA voted against, considering that it was not ambitious enough. The S&D Group abstained for the same reason.
Gerben Jan Gerbrandy said: “We have done our best to conclude an ambitious European regulation on countering climate change despite the attempts made by many EU governments to undermine our ambition. Thanks to the pressure of Parliament, we have managed to reduce the authorised carbon budget for emissions by about four million cars. European governments should do the same and should do so soon. It is no longer possible to delay climate action. This regulation requires all governments to speed up green investment in order to combat emissions from farming, transport, waste and buildings”.
During the debate, the previous day, the commissioner for climate action had congratulated the Parliament for its positive contribution and assured MEPs that the European Commission would work on what the EU’s long-term climate strategy should be, as requested by the European Council, between now and the first quarter 2019. The MEPs were pleased but noted with regret that no representative of the Bulgarian presidency had been present during the debate. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)