Peter Liese, Mohammed Chahim, Lena Schilling, Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy: Member States should immediately use the money to offer solutions to the people before ETS2 even starts

 The European Investment Bank mobilizes 3 billion Euro in a first step for the clean transition in road transport and heating with the possibility of a top-up. The EIB board agreed on a proposal on Wednesday. They react to the request of a cross-party initiative from the European Parliament for the so-called ‘frontloading’. In October of last year, a group of parliamentarians from all pro-European groups sent a letter (attached) to the European Commission to promote the idea to mobilize that money before ETS starts. With this mechanism, member states can support citizens, for example, with a social leasing scheme for a clean vehicle, even before the CO2 price kicks in. The EIB will lend this money to the member states. In reverse, the member states need to commit that the income of ETS2 will be transferred to the EIB at a later stage.

 “For any carbon pricing to be socially fair or acceptable, people need options and solutions first. People need to see the possibilities before the price comes into effect; therefore, the frontloading through the European Investment Bank is an important milestone. ETS2 generates revenues, and these revenues must be used by member states to support citizens who want to decarbonize their transport or heating systems.

 The solutions already exist, and member states have a clear obligation to deliver them to people. The €3 billion made available through this mechanism comes on top of the €8 billion in frontloaded resources from the Social Climate Fund and early auctioning. This means that member states will already have at least €11 billion at their disposal before 2028. Once ETS2 starts, revenues will even be significantly higher.

 EU law requires that all ETS2 revenues are spent for their intended purpose, with social considerations fully taken into account. We remind member states of this obligation and urge the Commission to monitor much more closely that the funds are indeed used as intended.

 We regret that only €3 billion will be available in this first step. However, we count on the fact that the second step will follow before the ETS2 enters into force,” argued Peter Liese (EPP), Mohammed Chahim (S&D), Lena Schilling (Greens/EFA) and Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (Renew), members of the Committee for Environment and Climate in the European Parliament.