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Fiala: Czech Republic will strive in the EU for a postponement of the new permit system to 2028

by AI | 16.Dec 2024 | Europe in brief AI

The Czech government will want to use the deferment to adjust the system to ensure stronger protection against sharp increases in energy prices.

Smoke rises from a factory in southeastern France. Photo: Philippe Desmazes/AFP/dpa

Prague – The Czech Republic will strive in the EU for a delay of the new ETS 2 emission allowance system until at least 2028. According to current plans, the system, which is supposed to extend trading with allowances to, for example, road transport or building heating, should be valid from 2027. The Czech government will want to use the delay to adjust the system with the aim of ensuring stronger protection against a sharp rise in energy prices. Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) stated this at today’s press conference. At the same time, the state rejects the European Commission’s new proposal for reducing emissions by 2040.

According to Fiala, a revision of the overall EU green policy is necessary. “We need to make environmental goals more realistic so that they do not have a negative impact on the entire economy,” said the Prime Minister. One of the specific proposals from the Czech Republic will be to adjust the upcoming new emission allowance trading system, which could be expanded from 2027 to include transport or building heating.

“We will convince our colleagues in the EU to join our proposal to postpone the ETS 2 system’s entry into force until 2028. Until then, we want to introduce stronger protection against a sharp rise in energy prices,” stated Fiala. If this does not happen, there is a risk of increased costs for households, industry, and entrepreneurs, according to him. “And we definitely do not want to allow that,” he added.

According to him, it is important for the Czech Republic to achieve a postponement of at least one year. “We could imagine an even longer postponement, for example, until energy prices in Europe are truly competitive, but we are realistic and are trying to find the widest possible consensus,” the Prime Minister noted.

Currently, emission allowances are purchased by power plants and other industrial enterprises that emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide. One allowance entitles the company to release one ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, or an equivalent amount of another gas. EU states are supposed to use revenues from allowances to protect the climate. This year’s revenues from allowances in the Czech Republic are estimated to be around 40 billion crowns. (December 16)