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On 6 October, EU environment ministers held a first formal debate on the Fit for 55 Package, with a particular focus on initiatives that fall under the remit of the Environment Council, including the revision of the EU ETS (inclusion of maritime transport and separate ETS system for road transport and buildings sector) and the establishment of the EU Social Climate Fund. The preliminary exchange of views suggests discussions will be tense and compromises will be difficult to achieve among Member States.

Member States generally welcomed the ambition of the Package and the 55% emissions reduction objectives by 2030. Ministers also shared the opinion that the Fit for 55 Package should be apprehended as a whole, implicitly accepting that ambitions could be lowered in certain files if balanced by other measures in fit for 55 proposals. Moreover, they agreed that the transition should be fair for citizens, and that the burden of reducing emissions should be spread across all sectors of the economy.

Nevertheless, ministers mostly focused their critics on the revision of the EU ETS, and more specifically the creation of a separate ETS system for road transport and building emissions. Ministers expressed concerns on the cost implications for vulnerable households and businesses and the risk of increasing energy poverty, fearing it would impact social acceptability of climate measures. They also raised doubt about the Social Climate Fund, worrying that it would not be sufficient to mitigate these negative impacts. Central and Eastern European Member States, such as Hungary, Romania or Poland were the most vocal against the EU ETS revision proposal, stating that it would disproportionally hurt their citizens, and that other measures could just as well limit emissions from road transport and housing. Coastal and island Member States (Greece, Malta and Cyprus), also denounced the inclusion of maritime transport in the scope of the EU ETS, saying it would hurt their economy. Still, a few Member States such as Finland expressed positive views on the proposed revision, due to the crucial role of carbon pricing for reducing emissions.

The Environment Council will be convened again on 20 December to further discuss the Package, and possibly reach general approaches on some proposals. In the meantime, technical discussions will continue under the Slovenian Presidency in the respective working parties of the Council.

Source: Council of the European Union