With the exception of three or four member states, all European Union countries have asked for in-depth consultations with the European Commission in order to have more information on the impact of an increase in the EU’s 2030 target on their economies, Clara De La Torre, deputy director-general of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA), said on Tuesday 17 November in a debate organised by Euractiv.
This was a request from the European Council of 15 and 16 October, at the end of which the 27 Heads of State or Government of the Member States agreed to return to the issue of raising the EU’s climate target for 2030 at their meeting on 10 and 11 December (see EUROPE 12582/2).
Such impact assessments are particularly requested by Member States that are highly dependent on fossil fuels, such as Poland.
While the Commission has presented an assessment of the impact of an increase in the 2030 climate target on the EU as a whole (see EUROPE 12562/1), it has not yet published country-specific impact assessments.
“We do not know what an increased target means for Member States, for regions, for sectors”, the Polish Minister for Climate and Environment, Michał Kurtyka, complained in a statement preceding the debate.
While stressing the need to ensure that the transition to a decarbonised economy is fair, he highlighted the importance of taking into account “the existing structure of the national energy system and the share of individual energy sources”.
He went on to add: “We do not want to enforce sweeping radical changes without the full view of the consequences”.
Finally, it is worth noting that the Commission reportedly met with Polish officials by videoconference on Tuesday to discuss the issue, according to Reuters. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)