The European Commission unveiled on Wednesday its draft of twelve legislative proposals to reduce the continent's greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to ...

EU details its roadmap to reduce carbon emissions

European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans presents new EU climate policy proposals with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels, July 14, 2021. REUTERS - YVES HERMAN

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The European Commission unveiled this Wednesday its draft of twelve legislative proposals, in order to reduce the continent's greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990. A long-awaited turning point, but which raises concerns on the social side.

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It is a historic “climate package”, we can hear in Brussels.

This colossal legislative package, which will still be the subject of bitter discussions between MEPs and Member States, indeed marks a turning point in European policy in the face of climate change.

It meets its goal of reducing the EU's carbon emissions by 55% by 2030.

In particular, the European Commission proposes to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars in the EU to zero from 2035, which would

de facto

stop sales of gasoline and diesel vehicles on that date in favor of 100% electric engines. . The automobile, the first mode of transport for Europeans, represents around 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. Most car manufacturers have already started a drastic reduction in their CO2 emissions, but are worried about the lack of charging stations.

For European manufacturers, banning heat engines "

is not a rational solution

". This decision "

will intensify competition between manufacturers,

" warns Flavien Neuvy, director of the Cetelem Automobile Observatory. "

It could even encourage Chinese competition to enter Europe, because it is easier for them to enter with electric vehicles

." This decision could also have serious consequences on industrial employment, in particular for small companies that manufacture parts for heat engines, continues Flavien Neuvy.

Another proposal: a tax on kerosene for flights within the EU from 2023, while imposing on airlines a minimum rate of biofuels. This tax, gradually increased over ten years, would however save private jets and cargo planes due to international legal constraints.

But the most important is a considerable expansion of the European carbon market (ETS) established in 2005, where the “permits to pollute” required for certain sectors (electricity, steelmakers, cement, intra-EU aviation) are exchanged, representing 40% of emissions of the Twenty-Seven. Until now, most of the companies concerned were offered free emission allowances, which they can resell. Brussels wants to restrict them drastically. Brussels also wants certain imports (steel, cement, electricity, etc.) to be gradually subject to ETS rules from 2026. Importers will have to buy “emission certificates” based on the carbon price they would have had to pay if the goods had been produced in the EU.

Brussels wants to extend the ETS from 2023 to maritime transport, as well as road transport and the heating of buildings. In practice, this would amount to forcing fuel or heating oil suppliers to buy emission allowances at the price of CO2, mechanically passing on this additional cost to household bills. For environmental NGOs, the risk is the postponement of these taxes on the consumer and a surge in gasoline and domestic fuel prices, as explained by Neil Makaroff, Europe manager for Climate Action Network.

We fear the proposal to create a carbon market for fuels and heating which in the end will make European households pay the price of the transition when they go to the pump in particular to fill up with gasoline and diesel or when they heat up with gas or fuel oil at a CO2 price which will be set by the market, which will therefore be extremely volatile and we believe that this is a real social danger.

Neil Makaroff, Europe manager for Climate Action Network

Anne Verdaguer

Brussels wants to increase the share of renewable energies in its energy mix to 40% by 2030, against a current target of 32%.

The emission reduction targets for sectors excluded from the ETS (agriculture, waste, etc.) are increased for each State.

-Energetic efficiency-

The energy efficiency objective would be raised: European final energy consumption should fall by at least 38% "by 2030, with an obligation to reduce the public sector (transport, buildings, waste, etc.) .

-Forests -

Brussels proposes to establish a European target for carbon absorption via natural "carbon sinks" (mainly forests), set at 310 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030, after having already called for planting "3 billion of trees "over the decade.

In return, the Commission promises that its plan will be fair to all and announces a "social action mechanism" to help the poorest households and counter fuel poverty.

EU details its roadmap to reduce carbon emissions

EU details its roadmap to reduce carbon emissions

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