Representatives of the European Parliament and the Czech Presidency of the EU Council will meet on Tuesday 29 November for a second negotiation meeting on the Social Climate Fund (SCF) (see EUROPE 12977/11, 12982/7).
After a first meeting on 13 October, which the European Parliament described as very positive, the co-legislators will once again discuss the main focuses of the Social Climate Fund, in particular the budgetary architecture of the Fund and the direct income support measures advocated by the Member States.
While the EU Council is considering linking the SCF to the future ETS 2 (the EU Emissions Trading System extended to buildings and road transport) to finance it, but the European Parliament has always refused to extend the ETS 2 to households by limiting it to commercial buildings only, the discussion will still focus on this extension to households with a new proposal from the Commission to feed into it.
The Commission has in fact proposed an intermediate solution with a ‘voucher’ system that would compensate for the consequences of the extension of the ETS 2 for the most vulnerable households, several sources have explained. Part of the Fund’s resources would have to be set aside by Member States to support the most vulnerable households to purchase goods and services that would help them participate in the energy transition.
The Commission’s proposal is currently for 25% of the Fund for the lowest paid, which amounts to a few hundred euros for the people concerned.
The proposal has already been criticised by some in the European Parliament as not covering all truly vulnerable households. For some forces in the European Parliament, the most vulnerable households should continue to be excluded from the extension of the ETS 2. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)