The end of expensive CO2 emission allowances? The European Commission is preparing a rescue
2026-02-14 21:00
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2026-02-14 21:00
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday after the EU summit that the ETS system, although providing an important market incentive for decarbonization, burdens some economies. Therefore, the European Commission will present solutions in March to reduce this burden, he added.
Macron told journalists after the meeting of EU27 leaders in Alden Biesen that one of the key topics of the meeting was energy prices.
He defended the carbon market, which he argued was a market incentive for decarbonization. – The ETS is a system that has its own structure and is important, Macron said. He added that he is in favor of maintaining the European Green Deal and the climate agenda.
In the opinion of the French president It would be a “strategic mistake” to say that we should abandon the climate to remain competitive.
Macron believes that v In some sectors, changes are even happening too slowly. – China is very good in the field of clean technologies because they changed direction, not us, and they invested more money, both private and public – he argued.
– That's why absolutely we cannot remove the market incentives that we have introduced under the ETS. But it is clear that it is currently not working well in some countries because we have the issue of marginal cost in those countries that are still dependent on fossil fuels and because we have speculation in the auction market. In this way, the ETS, which should be around 30-40 (euro per tonne of CO2 – PAP), is now over 80, Macron said.
– This puts a heavy burden on some economies. And that is why the Commission will present concrete solutions in March that will reduce this burden. There are several technical solutions, he added.
Reform of the ETS system is also Poland's demand. Warsaw wants, among other things, maintaining the number of emission permits in the system at a constant level, without further reducing it, and excluding some energy-intensive sectors such as cement or steel from the obligation to redeem emission permits.
Big changes in the ETS system. Ursula von der Leyen announces reform
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday that the main goal of the upcoming reform of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) will be to redirect more revenues from the sale of permits to industrial decarbonization. According to her, currently countries invest less than 5%. these incomes.
With Alden Biesen Magdalena Cedro (PAP)
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