WARSAW, March 18 (Reuters) – Poland is one of a group of countries pressing for the European Union to keep handing out free carbon permits to industry to help curb costs, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday.
European Union leaders, who meet for a summit in Brussels on Thursday, are debating proposals to modify the bloc’s carbon market that have become central to discussions on containing the rise in energy prices linked to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Speaking at an energy conference, Tusk said that together with countries including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Slovakia, Poland had sent a letter to the European Commission to demand industry should continue to receive free carbon allowances that limit their bill for releasing carbon emissions.
FOCUS ON EACH COUNTRY’S NEEDS?
He said he would also urge the EU to tailor its approach to climate policy to countries’ individual needs.
“This is about a change of philosophy, a profound adjustment so that each member state can count on a specific approach that takes into account its specific characteristics,” he said.
Launched in 2005, the ETS forces power plants and industries to buy permits to cover their CO2 emissions, but manufacturing and energy‑intensive industries can get some allowances for free.
Poland, which still relies on carbon-intensive coal for around half of its electricity, has been particularly dependent on its allocation of free permits to limit costs.
The changes to the carbon trading scheme, known as ETS2, will impose a price on CO2 emissions from heating and transport fuels from 2028, and spend the collected revenues to help households and businesses invest in electric cars and energy-saving renovations.
The war in the Middle East has intensified the resistance of some governments to the reforms that they say could lead to consumers paying more for energy and want ETS2 further delayed.
On average, the ETS represents 11% of energy bills in Europe, but this exceeds 20% in countries, such as Poland, with more polluting energy mixes.
The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Karol Badohal, additional reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels; editing by Barbara Lewis)
