Vula Tsetsi, Co-Chair of the European Green Party, said: ‘When Europeans face rising energy and food prices because of the war, the lesson should be clear: our dependence on fossil fuels is a strategic vulnerability. Europe already has the tools to break this dependence through the Green Deal and the EU Emissions Trading System. Weakening the ETS now would undermine investor confidence and slow the transition to clean energy. Yet the governments of Italy, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland are also calling for weakening incentives to switch to clean energy. The oil price is on fire prices, and yet Meloni and her allies are still defending the old jerrycans.’
Ciarán Cuffe, Co-Chair of the European Green Party, added: “For years, right-wing and far-right parties across Europe have attacked the Green Deal and tried to slow investment in wind and solar. That has left us more vulnerable when oil prices surge and household budgets come under pressure. Instead of weakening climate policy, EU leaders should now speed up the shift to renewable energy, which leads directly to more European autonomy. Europe needs more protection from petrol shocks, more sovereignty and hence more Green Deal, not less.”
Background
The EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) is the bloc’s carbon pricing mechanism. It requires major polluters such as power plants and factories to pay for their emissions.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said last week: “With the outbreak of the crisis in the Middle East, the issue of energy prices has clearly become even more important, which is why, at European level, we are also calling for the urgent suspension of the application of the ETS to electricity production”.
Reports state that Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland are also calling for a weaker ETS.
The leaders of Denmark, Finland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden last week issued a letter saying that this week’s European Council summit presents the ideal opportunity for the EU to reaffirm its commitment to climate action, and carbon pricing.
