Slovak Environment Minister rejects EU directive on household fossil fuel charges

Slovakia has failed to include charges for emissions from heating and road transport in its latest amendment to its Emissions Trading Act, despite an EU directive requiring member states to do so by 25 September, with Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba (SNS) urging Brussels to revise the directive instead.

Slovakia has already missed the deadline for implementing the updated version of the EU Emissions Trading Directive (EU ETS) twice - first on 31 January 2023 and again after an extension to 30 June 2024 granted due to delays in other EU member states.

In July, the Commission issued a formal notice to 26 member states, giving them two months to transpose the directive into national law.

The EU ETS directive targets the most polluting sectors, such as heavy industry and energy, and requires them to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions. The scheme has successfully reduced emissions from these sectors by around 47% between 2005 and 2023 and is driving investment in cleaner technologies as the cost of emissions continues to rise yearly.

However, emissions from the heating and transport sectors have not seen similar reductions. Therefore, EU countries, including Slovakia, have agreed to introduce a second, parallel EU ETS 2 for transport and heating fuels in 2022.

From the outset, critics raised concerns about the social impact of the new system.

Taraba echoed these concerns and cited them for not including a levy on emissions in the buildings and transport sectors in the amendment to the Emissions Trading Act approved by the Slovak government last week.

He claimed that Slovakia would not implement price increases for heating, petrol or diesel at this stage and urged the Commission to reconsider the directive.

“As for this new emission system, we will consult it with other member states,” Taraba said.

“We will raise the issue in Brussels, as not all costs should be borne by citizens,” the minister added.

However, a measure to mitigate potential social impacts is already underway. A €86.7 billion Social Climate Fund is being set up to help offset the effects of green policies. Its success will largely depend on how effectively national governments manage its implementation.

What comes next?

Full implementation of ETS 2 is still more than three years away. The Commission's formal notice shows that 26 other EU countries are late in fully implementing the updated directive.

If member states remain reluctant to adopt the directive, the Commission may be pressured to weaken the new ETS 2.

Yet changing the rules to artificially low-set the price of carbon in the transport and buildings sectors will undermine the scheme as a tool for reducing emissions at a time when stronger action is needed to tackle the accelerating climate crisis.

(Irena Jenčová, Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)