SLOVENIAN PRESIDENCY WELCOMES 'FIT FOR 55' PACKAGE OF CLIMATE AND ENERGY LAWS
The Slovenian Presidency welcomes the unveiled project, which is also a priority of the Presidency in the field of the environment and climate change. Given the importance of this legislative package, the first informal exchange of views of the member states will already take place next week, on 20 July, at an informal meeting of environment ministers in Slovenia.
The proposals bring measures enabling an ambitious reduction of greenhouse gases as laid down in the EU Climate Law Regulation. The proposed measures include:
- application of emission trading to transport and building sectors,
- tightening of the existing EU Emissions Trading System,
- measures to prevent carbon leakage,
- increased use of renewable energy,
- greater energy efficiency.
For the Emissions Trading System (ETS), the Commission proposes to further lower the overall emissions ceiling and increase the annual rate of reduction. The Effort Sharing Regulation sets more ambitious targets for EU member states to reduce the emissions from buildings, transport, agriculture and waste. The new targets are still based on the gross domestic product per capita, taking into account cost-effectiveness.
The Slovenian Presidency believes that flexibility is needed for each EU member state to achieve the set targets effectively. EU member states are at different starting positions and in different circumstances, so there are no universal solutions.