In today’s vote of the European Parliament on important parts of the Fit-for-55 package, Henrike Hahn, Bavarian Member of the European Parliament (The Greens /EFA), deputy leader and industrial policy spokesperson of the German Delegation, Rapporteur for the opinion in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on the Social Climate Fund, comments:
"The Fit-for-55 package is the EU's biggest and historic tool to fight climate change. Today's vote by the European Parliament on the reform of the European CO2 trading scheme will not meet the 1.5 degree climate target.
The opportunity for ambitious, rational climate protection has not been sufficiently seized, which is very painful. Nevertheless, we Greens voted 'in favour' because it is important to us that the result goes further than the Commission proposal. We Greens have to sit at the negotiating table in the trilogue when important climate policy decisions are to be taken in Europe.
From an industrial policy point of view, an effective CO2 border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) is crucial for the competitiveness of European industry. With today's vote, we are laying a foundation for the introduction of this new climate policy instrument.
A green transformation of the economy must be fully in line with our legally binding climate targets and we must ensure that it is socially just. The fight for real climate protection must be as ambitious as possible.
With the Social Climate Fund, we are now sending a strong signal from the European Parliament for very concrete support for EU citizens with structural and direct investments - at a time when inflation is reaching new record levels and energy prices rise due to the war in Europe as well. The Social Climate Fund is now tackling energy and mobility poverty - exactly where it hurts people in Europe the most.
With the Social Climate Fund, we have for the first time created a clear definition of energy and mobility poverty, and we now have a call for detailed climate social plans. The largest share of the fund is to go into structural investments, in line with the relevant taxonomy criteria. Climate justice, green industrial policy and social justice must go hand in hand. This is the only way to achieve the best for the climate and the people of Europe."
Background:
Today, a compromise on the reform of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme was put to a vote in the European Parliament.
The reform of the European CO2 trade was adopted by 439 votes to 157 with 32 abstentions, the introduction of the CO2 border adjustment by 450 votes to 115 with 55 abstentions, and the introduction of the climate social fund by 479 votes to 103 with 48 abstentions.
The agreed one-off - but more importantly the annual - reduction of CO2 allowances will reduce CO2 by 100 million tonnes more by 2030 than originally proposed by the Commission.
The free allocation of CO2 allowances will be phased out between 2027 and 2032.
So-called "export rebates", i.e. free allowances for the quantities of goods exported to third countries, will be granted in order to create fair conditions on the international market.
The scope of the Carbon Boundary Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is now to be extended to all those sectors that are also covered by the current emissions trading scheme. This should ensure that there is a sufficiently broad "carbon leakage" protection for European industry in place. In this respect, the position of the European Parliament is also more ambitious than that of the European Commission.
The Social Climate Fund is intended to compensate for the negative social impacts on households, vulnerable persons and micro-enterprises resulting from the extension of the Emissions Trading Scheme to the buildings and road transport sectors (ETS2).
My team and I are at your disposal for any further questions.