German Christian Democrat MEPs, Peter Liese and Christian Ehler, told the press, on Monday 30 June, that their group in the European Parliament, the EPP, could potentially support the target of a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, which will be unveiled on 2 July, but that this would not be an “isolated” decision.
The group therefore expects the European Commission to come out in favour of a package of “clear proposals” for Member States and parliamentarians that are “not convinced” by the EU’s climate leadership, possibly during the State of the Union address in September.
This was stated by Mr Ehler, who said that he personally supported the 2040 proposal (see EUROPE 13344/1), citing industry’s fear that the EU would not be ambitious on the international stage - even though a 2035 target derived from this initial proposal is expected before the COP30 in Belém. However, he questioned the “plausibility” of this objective.
He is therefore asking for a series of preconditions, as did several Member States (France, Poland and Italy) that expressed their views at the European Council on 26 June (see EUROPE 13668/7).
According to him, these quid pro quos would concern a series of draft delegated acts linked to the European Green Deal, including the one on low-carbon hydrogen (see EUROPE 13665/23), but also guarantees on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and a pragmatic approach to speeding up the allocation of permits for renewables.
Mr Liese also mentioned the inclusion of negative emissions in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), which could form part of the Commission’s final proposal, and the full implementation of the Clean Industrial Deal.
3% international carbon credits
Peter Liese also stressed the importance of taking into account certain flexibilities, without which it would be impossible to agree on the 90% target.
One of the most talked-about flexibilities concerns the inclusion of carbon credits (Article 6 of the Paris Agreement) in the 2040 target.
Referring to a provisional Commission document circulated over the weekend, Peter Liese noted that these credits, which enable the EU to account for emission reductions from projects it finances in third countries, could be counted towards the 2040 target at a rate of 3% from 2036. This figure is in line with the German government’s position.
However, Mr Liese believes it is necessary for the flexibility measure governing international credits to come into force before 2035, “because the ambition of 2035 is important for the international debate”.
On the contrary, Michael Bloss (Greens/EFA, German) told the press that the inclusion of these credits was “problematic”.
“There are no international criteria defining what these credits should look like. We don’t know how we can guarantee that this credit is being monitored, that the CO2 is really being saved”, he explained.
Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe, French) believes these credits represent, on the contrary, an opportunity, stressing that, since they are based on the Paris Agreement, they are “much more solid than if you buy a cheap credit on the market” (see EUROPE 13669/6). (Original version in French by Pauline Denys with Nithya Paquiry)