EU on track to meet Paris Agreement goals

On Tuesday, the European Parliament adopted several bills reforming the European carbon market. Some environmental aspects of the Green Deal are much less advanced.

  LE MONDE BY VIRGINIE MALINGRE(BRUSSELS, EUROPE BUREAU),  PUBLISHED YESTERDAY AT 3:01 PM (PARIS)

What's more, the carbon market's scope will be expanded: It will eventually cover 65% of Euro

The European Union has taken a crucial step on its road to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. In Strasbourg, the European Parliament on Tuesday, April 18, adopted several bills at the heart of the legislative package designed to bring Europe in line with the Paris Agreement. They still need to be validated by the member states on April 25, but, barring any surprises, this should be a mere formality.

On Tuesday, MEPs first ratified the reform of the carbon market (known as "ETS" for Emissions Trading System), in which energy companies and polluting industries (cement, steel and aluminum) trade allowances to pollute. When it was created in 2005, it was decided that emissions would decrease by 43% over the course of 25 years in order to raise the price of the ton of CO2 and encourage industries to emit less. It is now agreed that they will have to have fallen by 62% between 2005 and 2030 and that free allowances will eventually disappear.

pe's CO2 emissions, compared to 40% today. Not only will it be extended to the maritime sector and intra-European flights, but a second carbon market, known as "ETS 2," will also be created, which will affect consumers at the pump and on their electricity bill.

Opposition of the French Greens

Fearing that Yellow Vests would take hold of all European traffic circles as they did in France over a proposed carbon tax, some MEPs and member states, including France, nevertheless obtained changes to the Commission's initial proposal.buildings and road transport fuels, but with a cap set at €45 per ton of CO2 until 2030.

"Then the Commission will have to make a new proposal," said Pascal Canfin, MEP in the Renew group and chairman of the European Parliament's environment committee, who was opposed to the Commission's proposal. He said that "the amended scheme will have no impact on the purchasing power of the French" because the price of a ton of CO2 in France is €44.60.

The French Greens and their colleagues from La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left) do not see things the same way and remain opposed to the final compromise. "Nothing has been learned from the Yellow Vests movement," said Manon Aubry (LFI), president of The Left group in the European Parliament. "The French Greens were the only Greens to vote against the reform of the carbon market," pointed out Canfin.

In order to help member states support households and micro-businesses in this transition, the Europeans have decided to create a Social Climate Fund in 2026, with a budget of €86.7 billion, which will be financed mainly by the revenues of the ETS 2.

'The first climate-neutral continent'

On Tuesday, MEPs also gave the green light for the carbon border tax starting in 2026, which will subject the most polluting imported products to a levy if they are not manufactured under the same environmental conditions as their European competitors. This unprecedented measure, which France has been calling for for a very long time – President Jacques Chirac (1995-2007) supported such a project – will provide European manufacturers and energy companies with the conditions for fair competition.

"Together, we will make Europe the first climate-neutral continent," said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen again on Tuesday. One thing is certain: The Europeans have shown a rare speed in fulfilling their commitment to the Paris Agreement. In less than two years, they have almost completed the legislative package presented by the Commission on July 14, 2021.

Of the 14 legislative proposals, 12 have now been adopted or are in the process of being adopted. Others are on the way: the development of renewable energies, a country-by-country description of the energy savings to be made by various sectors, and the phasing out of internal combustion engines for cars.

Ultimately, only the reform of energy taxation, which requires a unanimous vote by the 27 member states, is likely be left on the drawing board. "We have raised the level of ambition. The legislative package being adopted will allow us to reduce CO2 emissions by 57% by 2030, when the Commission was counting on a drop of at least 55%," said Canfin.

Devices dedicated to the environment

However, these bills, which focus on the fight against global warming, are only part of the European Green Deal, which brings together some 50 draft directives and regulations. The Commission's more recent proposals to improve the energy performance of buildings and to end the use of internal combustion engines in buses and trucks should also reduce CO2 emissions. The U-turn made by Germany, which, after having validated the end of combustion engines for cars in 2035, went back on its commitments before changing its mind once again, shows the sensitivity of these issues.

The Commission has also provided for a series of measures devoted to the environment, to fight against pollution and the decline in biodiversity. Some – such as legislation on nature restoration, air quality, animal welfare and packaging – are still under negotiation in the European Parliament and the Council. Others – on soil health, waste and the revision of the chemicals regulation (Reach) – are being written at the Commission. "We still have a mountain to climb," said the deputy director of the Commission's directorate-general for environment, Patrick Child, on March 22.

Several of these bills concerning agriculture, livestock and fisheries are particularly difficult to negotiate at the moment. "For these sectors, the debate remains very polarized. We have been able to make progress on the decarbonization of industry, energy and transport because we have been able to find a path with the economic actors concerned, a common roadmap," said Canfin.

Systematic obstruction

But that is not all. In the European Parliament, the conservatives in the European People's Party (EPP) are putting up more and more resistance. They argue that the war in Ukraine and the accompanying inflationary context justify a moratorium on a series of legislative projects. Some conservatives, led by the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Spanish People's Party (PP), are even systematically obstructing.

"The EPP's political project is to unite the right" with the far right, said Stéphane Séjourné, president of the liberal group Renew, on Tuesday. This weakens von der Leyen's parliamentary majority, which was built around the EPP, the Social Democrats (S&D) and Renew, and reduces its ability to adopt ambitious reforms on the environment.

This is especially true as the window of opportunity is narrowing, with the European elections, scheduled for May 2024, approaching. "Some member states may be tempted to delay negotiations and wait for the election of the next Parliament, in the hope that it will be less favorable to environmental protection," Spanish Socialist MEP Javi Lopez told the website Contexte on 22 March. The next few weeks will be crucial in this respect.