July vote may be back-loading's last chance – EU
Brussels, 14 May (Argus) — The European Commission will have to consider if the back-loading measure is worth pursuing any further if the European Parliament rejects the proposal for a second time at the beginning of July, the EU's international climate change negotiator Artur Runge-Metzger has told Argus.
“If the plenary votes against back-loading in the July session, then one would have to rethink the position,” Runge-Metzger said.
But given that the proposal is only one line long, the changes that can be suggested are very limited, he noted.
It also means that the measure would be delayed even further, raising the question if it is worth pursuing any further, Runge-Metzger said. But that would require a political judgement after the vote, he said.
Should the back-loading proposal fail to pass, it would not mean the end of the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS), because the legislation that is in place does not prescribe an end to the scheme, so the annual reduction of the cap of 1.74pc will continue even after 2020, Runge-Metzger said.
In any case, regardless of the vote's outcome, the work on structural measures will continue, he said.
“What we are clearly saying is that there is a problem with the ETS that needs to be fixed and that requires a structural change to the ETS, something we have put on the table,” he said.
There is a political willingness by even those who voted against the back-loading measure to have the structural ETS reforms, according to Runge-Metzger.
Those who say back-loading alone is not going to sort out the problem are right, he conceded. But given the lengthy EU decision-making process, the commission decided to split the proposal in two, starting with back-loading as a quick fix before pushing for structural measures afterwards, Runge-Metzger said.
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