ITRE adopts low carbon economy opinion

On 23 November 2011, the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) adopted MEP Mario Pirillo’s (Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrat, Italy) opinion on a “Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050”. In addition, Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) has until 6 December 2011 to table amendments to Chris Davies’ (Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, UK) draft report of Mario Pirillo’s draft opinion.

In his report, Chris Davies:

• proposes to endorse the European Commission’s Roadmap to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050, together with its trajectory, the specific milestones for domestic emission reductions of 40%, 60% and 80% for 2030, 2040 and 2050 respectively, and the ranges for sector specific milestones, as the basis for proposing legislative and other initiatives on economic and climate policy;
• calls on the Commission to adopt measures to correct the failings of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETSⁱ) and to allow it to function, in particular by taking the following steps before the end of 2012:
  • recalibrating the ETS before the beginning of the third phase by setting aside allowances so as to restore scarcity, thus allowing the original objective of providing incentives for investments in low carbon technologies and energy efficiency measures to be met, and thereafter proposing a legislative act to enable such allowances to be eliminated;
  • proposing legislation before the end of 2013 to modify from the earliest appropriate date the 1.74% annual linear reduction requirement to a value sufficient to meet the requirements of the 2050 CO2 reduction target;
  • proposing legislation to establish from the earliest possible date a reserve price for the auction of allowances;
• in relation to carbon leakage, he calls on the Commission to produce an analysis of sectors for which free allocation of allowances fails to prevent carbon leakage, and recommends that the Commission bring forward proposals for border adjustment measures requiring importers of products in these sectors to purchase allowances equivalent to those which would have been required if the product had been manufactured in the EU.

CEMBUREAU would support the development of EU roadmaps to 2050, under certain conditions. The proposed Roadmaps should be based on sector by sector analysis of potential reduction levels. These principles should guide the setting of EU emission reduction ambition levels for 2030. The Association stresses that for the EU Emission Trading Scheme to play its role, EU institutions should refrain from undue intervention in the market mechanisms, for example through “setting aside” allowances as proposed by the “Low carbon roadmap 2050”.

More information:
Mario Pirillo draft opinion
Chris Davies draft report
October Eurobrief