During the 6 months of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union (whose term began on 1 January 2022), Paris intends to advance negotiations among Member States on the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ package on climate legislation while also attempting to further discussions on the rise in energy prices and on nuclear energy.
Climate
The French Presidency will thus continue the work that was started on the revision of the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), one of the key proposals in the first part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package presented on 14 July 2021 (see EUROPE 12762/1).
It will also try to ensure that this is “properly coordinated” with the implementation of the ‘Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation’ (CORSIA), the revision of the regulation (2018/842) on effort sharing with regard to climate action (ESR), and the reform of the regulation (2018/841) on the contribution of the land use and forestry sector (LULUCF).
It will also work on the European Commission’s proposal aiming to establish a ‘Social Climate Fund’ and will continue negotiations on the revision of the CO2 emissions performance standards for new cars and vans.
Moreover, the Presidency’s programme indicates, “with regard to international climate policy, the French Presidency will start preparing for the negotiations to be held during the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP) scheduled to take place in Egypt and will follow up on the sectoral commitments made and themes established at COP26”.
Energy
On the energy front, the Presidency will endeavour to make progress on the dossiers in the ‘Fit for 55’ package that are related to this sector, especially the revision of the directives on renewable energy (2018/2001, otherwise known as ‘RED II’) and energy efficiency (2018/2002, otherwise known as ‘EED’).
It will also begin work on the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (2018/844) (see EUROPE 12854/13); the legislative package aiming to promote decarbonised gases (see EUROPE 12854/11), including hydrogen; and the proposal for an EU regulation on methane emissions in the energy sector (see EUROPE 12854/12). These three dossiers are part of the second part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package that was presented this past 15 December.
Paris wants to hold ministerial conferences in early March as well: one in Nice on housing in order to highlight the issues of energy performance in housing and the fight against energy poverty and another on decarbonisation.
Claiming to be “convinced that nuclear power is a crucial tool for decarbonising European industry, meeting our emission reduction targets, and strengthening our energy sovereignty and our energy independence”, the Presidency intends to ensure that European regulations compatible with the development of nuclear energy are maintained.
Furthermore, the document assures, “the rise in energy prices will continue to be discussed in depth in the EU Council during the French Presidency”.
See the programme (in French): https://bit.ly/3EOfJcZ (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)