Peter Liese: The Council's conclusions are encouragingly positive / Transformation continues / But we need pragmatism, technology neutrality and greater consideration for competitiveness, and above all more opportunities for citizens

“In my view, the conclusions of the European Council on future climate policy and competitiveness are encouragingly positive. For a long time, it looked as if the European Council would be unable to reach any agreement on this important issue. The Member States were reportedly hopelessly divided. Given this expectation, the declaration is surprisingly clear. I think it strikes exactly the right balance between ambition and pragmatism,” said Peter Liese, climate and environment policy spokesperson for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), on the occasion of the European Council's decision on Thursday night.

Under the heading ‘A competitive green transition,’ the 27 heads of state and government emphasise that climate change poses an existential threat and commit to the Paris Agreement. They also describe the opportunities presented by the transformation. At the same time, they stress that this fundamental transformation must be fair, pragmatic, cost-effective and socially balanced. “That is exactly the right tone. We need to continue climate protection, but we must pay more attention to cost efficiency and social aspects,” Liese emphasised.

Moreover, the Council welcomed the European Commission's announcement that it would shortly be presenting a proposal to amend the regulation on CO2 emissions from passenger cars (ban on combustion engine). The Commission should ensure technology neutrality and production in Europe. In connection with the climate protection target for 2040, they emphasised the importance of negative emissions (‘carbon removals’) and the use of international climate credits under the Paris Agreement, but only if they are of high quality. “Overall, I believe the statement points in the right direction. It is a good basis for the Environment Council meeting on 4th November. I expect the Environment Council to adopt the 2040 target. In my view, it would make sense to reduce the 90% proposed by the Commission slightly, for example to 87%. However, it is much more important that the internationally significant target for 2035 is finally agreed. The EU has already missed the United Nations deadline twice. The European Parliament is in favour of a target at the upper end of the range proposed by the environment ministers, i.e. close to 72.5%,” Liese emphasised.