MEPs frustrated with late carbon-trading plans

MEPs in the Parliament on 4 September held a debate on the national allocation plans for the second phase of the emission trading scheme (2008-2012), the EU's flagship policy to reduce global warming.

Speaking for the Parliament's leading centre-right European's People's Party (EPP-ED), Avril Doyle (Ireland) said she fully supported the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol and the EU-ETS. But she attacked the EU's environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas for claiming that the system is working smoothly. "The theory is good, the practice has been awful," she exclaimed, saying that 21 countries fell short of their own emissions predictions by 44 million tonnes in 2005. This, she said, "resulted in absolutely no downward pressure to reduce emissions" and led to "a very volatile carbon market". "We need industry to buy in to what we are saying, we need credibility in practice as well as well as theory," she concluded.

Chris Davies (UK), of the Alliance of Liberal Democrats (ALDE), asked that countries who were late in submitting their NAPs be named and shamed during Council meetings. "We are getting nowhere if the Member States do not produce the goods that they have promised," he exclaimed. Not only are NAPs "coming late" but they are "coming lax", he continued, saying that the Commission needed "to be fair" but also "tough" when assessing the plans. "Member States who are genuinely committed and have submitted their plans already will be backing you in ensuring there is a level playing field," Davies told Dimas.

Davies was supported in this view by Karin Scheel, from the Socialist group, who called on the Commission to "apply real pressure" on late Member States and "turn words into action".

Claude Turmes (Luxembourg) for the Greens/EFA drew attention to market distortions in the German energy market, saying the German NAP had "a hidden agenda: not to allow gas power plant investments" in the country. This was aimed at protecting the German power market which Turmes said "is already completely dominated by four companies", which for a large part, produce their electricity from coal.

Also for the Greens/EFA, Rebecca Harms said Germany had a special responsibility since it will hold the EU and G8 Presidencies in 2007 and host important climate talks in Bonn. But, according to the German MEP, the NAP submitted by Germany will not help it to assert its role on the global and European stage.

Speaking on behalf of the EU Council of Ministers, Finland's Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Paula Lehtomäki, tried to calm MEP's anxieties. "Despite its shortcomings, we still need this system and we have to continue promoting it," she said. She added that emissions data now available for year 2005 will make the system more transparent in the future.

EU environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas refused to make any comment about late NAPs. "Those countries which are still hesitating are being sent reminders," he assured. If the Member States do not present their reports, "the Commission may well take other steps", he added, saying: "I hope this will not be necessary".

Dimas then read out the following statement about the forthcoming review of the ETS directive: "Following the adoption of the ETS review report in the coming weeks, the Commission will activate, later this year, a stakeholder group under the auspices of the European Climate Change Programme to intensify the debate on the review".

Issues Dimas highlighted as part of the review are: the harmonisation and extension of the scope of the directive, further harmonisation and increased predictability of the caps in the allocation process, more robust compliance and enforcement to the rules and linking the trading schemes in third countries and increased involvement of developing countries.