clear commitment to emissions trading / small-scale bans and bureaucracy

“I hope and believe that Friedrich Merz, as the new German Chancellor, will be the decisive voice for the survival of European climate protection policy”, said Dr. Peter Liese, spokesperson on environmental and climate policy for the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP/Christian Democrats).

“He is an absolutely convinced supporter of European emissions trading. As rapporteur for this biggest climate protection law of all time, I have involved him intensively in the consultations and have always been able to rely on him. At the EPP Congress in Valencia, Friedrich Merz was one of the few people who spoke about climate protection and emissions trading in particular”, affirms Peter Liese, who has known Merz for 30 years and is his successor in the European Parliament.

“Precisely because European emissions trading is under massive pressure at the moment, the future German Chancellor's commitment can be decisive. Emissions trading is more important than many other laws, it is the heart of European climate policy.”

“Friedrich Merz is right when he says that we need to support the climate targets with less bureaucracy and not with small-scale bans, but with a market economy and openness to technology. If we make adjustments in this respect, we will be successful in the long term. He is also right when he says: “Unlike the populists on the right, we are not questioning climate change. It is real, it threatens the ecological balance on our planet and a collapse would have unforeseeable, catastrophic consequences - for all of us too”,” emphasizes Peter Liese.