Following the European Commission’s proposal on Wednesday 16 September to increase the European Union’s emission reduction target for 2030 to “at least 55%” (see EUROPE 12561/5), several Member States reiterated their fears of, or even opposition to, such an objective.
As the only Member State that has not been able to formally commit to the implementation of the EU’s climate neutrality target by 2050 (see EUROPE 12389/1), Poland has been “concerned” by the Commission’s proposal, according to a statement from its Ministry of Climate.
The Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, Karel Havlíček, for his part stated that his country could not ratify such a goal without “losing its energy self-sufficiency and industrial infrastructure”.
Less categorically, the Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Ivan Korčok, described the objective as “very ambitious”, stressing that it can only be achieved with “sufficient financial support from the EU”.
Hungary, for its part, considers that raising the 2030 target should be subject to the condition that all EU countries reduce their emissions to a similar extent, the Hungarian Embassy to the EU told us. According to the Commission, the largest emission reductions between 1990 and 2020 have indeed been achieved by the Central and Eastern European Member States.
While Member States appeared divided on the issue of the 2030 target at an informal meeting by videoconference on 13-14 July (see EUROPE 12527/3), the positions of some of them may now change, following the publication yesterday (Thursday) of the Commission’s impact assessment on the feasibility of a 55% reduction (see EUROPE 12562/1).
Contrasting stakeholder reactions
As far as stakeholders are concerned, BusinessEurope, an organisation representing European employers, called for the implementation of a “strong European industrial strategy that considers the unprecedented economic impact of Covid-19 and does not lose sight of the international situation” in order to achieve a 55% reduction.
Environmental NGOs, for their part, considered the proposal insufficiently ambitious and at odds with science, which in their view requires an emission reduction target of at least 65% to comply with the Paris agreement.
“ In her State of the Union address, President von der Leyen said that the targets are too ambitious for some and not enough for others, but there is no middle ground when it comes to science”, said Sebastian Mang, Greenpeace advisor for EU climate policy, adding that “this target would condemn us to a devastating climate crisis”.
At the October plenary session, the European Parliament could support a 60% reduction. However, the outcome of the vote remains highly uncertain, as positions vary both between and within some political groups (see EUROPE 12558/10). (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)