An important key to provide a clear direction for European industry to ensure the necessary investments and a mean to cut energy bills and secure more jobs: that is just one side of immediate reactions to the 2040 emmission target agreed on Wednesday at Environment Council. On the contrary, industrial associations call the goal unrealistic and harmful.
In the early hours of Wednesday, member states’ environment ministers agreed amendments to the Commission’s original proposal regarding the EU’s emission targets for 2040. The most important of these is a higher proportion of so-called international carbon credits and delay of the ETS2 emissions trading system which is now due to start in 2028.
Compromise as a ’major success’…
“Achieving this result was a major success, even if it comes with a bitter aftertaste. Ministers have set a clear pathway towards 2040, and this shows the EU is staying on the course on its decarbonisation despite volatile geopolitics and some domestic attacks. This is a hard-fought win for the Danish presidency, which managed to bring even the most concerned countries on board,” said Linda Kalcher, Executive Director of Strategic Perspectives think tank.
“Despite concessions to get a majority, the deal sends a long-overdue signal to investors, businesses, and global partners that the EU will not follow the trend set across the Atlantic and remains committed to the net-zero race,” added Strategic Perspectives’ Director Neil Makaroff.
Similar tone has been echoed in the words of MEP Niels Fugelsang (S&D/DKK). “An ambitious climate target is key to provide a clear direction for European industry to ensure the necessary investments, boost European competitiveness while of course, fighting climate change,” wrote Mr Fugelsang on X.
…or an ’unrealistic and threating target’?
Some industry associations and groups posted different reactions. “The Confederation of Industry has long rejected the 90 per cent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 as unrealistic and threatening to Czech industry. From our point of view, it doesn’t reflect the changes in the geopolitical situation over the last few years. European industry is in very poor shape because it has been suffering from high energy prices compared to the rest of the world and declining competitiveness, partly due to excessive regulation,” said Daniel Urban from the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic to EU Perspectives.
Mr Urban added that “the compromise means that the main reduction by 2040 would again be borne by sectors such as industry and energy, for which this would effectively mean a significant acceleration of decarbonization.”
