Brussels, 09/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - Whereas the European Parliament plenary session is preparing to vote, on first reading, on the Commission's proposal aimed at introducing a system in the Union for trading in CO2 emission permits (voting on the Moreira da Silva report on Thursday in Brussels), Karl Heinz Florenz (German, Christian-Democrat), rapporteur for the EPP-ED Group on environmental issues and Werner Langen (German Christian-Democrat), rapporteur for the Parliamentary industry committee on the issue, are moving to amend the text along the lines of greater flexibility.
Convinced that trading in emissions is a good way, among the many possibilities offered by the Kyoto Protocol, to respect the goals of reducing greenhouse gases, the two MEPs consider that the compulsory nature of the system proposed does not respect the spirit of Kyoto and would penalise Germany that has already done a great deal to respect its objective under the Protocol (through technical measures, this State has already succeeded in reducing by 10% its goal of 21% by 2008-2012). At a press conference they explained how "Brussels interventionism" risked undermining the "very effective voluntary system experimented successfully by Germany".
"We want to attain the Kyoto objectives with a modern system, not a compulsory system", declared Karl-Heinz Florenz deploring Parliament's traditional mistrust of voluntary instruments. Certainly, the Moreira report provides for an "opt out", but at what price! said the Euro-MP, raging against the bureaucratic burden of a system that would demand of companies to request from Brussels permission to have recourse to that option, on an individual basis rather than a national one. One of the EPP-ED amendments aims precisely for the possibility of an exemption by sector if the opt out at national level is ruled out. "This would provide flexibility for the Laender and companies", Karl-Heinz Florenz stressed. The EPP-ED Group is also pleading in favour of an extension of the system's field of application to other sectors - notably road transport and individual heating - and other gases than CO2 alone.
For Werner Langen, "the proposal is so bad and diverges so far from the Kyoto Protocol that it has to be rejected". He then recalled that the Kyoto Protocol covers six greenhouse gases, that it forces Member states (and not individual companies) to reduce their emissions, and leaves it up to Member states to decide how it should be implemented to attain their objectives. He placed emphasis on the devastating effects the system proposed would have on the competitiveness of the German lignite industry, which covers 25% of national electricity requirements. Compared to France whose provision of electricity is covered to the tune of 80% by nuclear energy, Germany would suffer an enormous competitive disadvantage, without counting that in certain sectors (lime and cement), it is either technically impossible to reduce CO2 emissions or very costly to do so (for steel, for example), he pointed out. For him, the central register envisaged for the issuance of emission quotas to companies "is a frightening deployment of bureaucracy".
"We believe that for the period 2005-2008, it is up to Member states to decide which sectors to include, as provided for by the Protocol", the MEP exclaimed. The alternative he is proposing in an amendment to the Moreira report (with the backing of 55 MEPs from six Member states) is as follows: Member states would decide freely whether or not to participate in the Community system of quota trading. At the end of the pilot period, they would be held to assess the reductions made and prove to the European Commission the success of their national climate policy should they want to continue to remain outside the Community system after 31 December 2007.
On this subject, Werner Langen referred to a convergence of views between the EPP-ED and the Social-Democrats.