European Parliament Votes for Higher Climate and Energy Targets

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - The European Parliament has voted for stronger energy and climate targets for the European Union (E.U.) to 2030, putting pressure on the European Commission (E.C.) to raise its recently proposed targets for emissions cuts, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted in favor of a 40% cut in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a 30% target for renewable energy and a 40% target for energy efficiency by 2030, under the E.U.'s new long-term climate-change policy. This compares with the E.C.'s recently proposed targets of a 40% cut in GHG emissions, a 27%% target for renewable energy and no binding target for energy efficiency. MEPs called the Commission's recent proposals "short-sighted" and "unambitious." Its resolution was adopted by 341 votes to 263, with 26 abstentions, and will place pressure on the Commission before energy ministers meet in Brussels next month to discuss the 2030 targets.

The issue remains hotly contested, with those representing a cleaner energy mix and more energy efficiency on one side, and on the other, the power and industry sectors, which are calling for less restrictive goals in order to lower Europe's high energy costs and improve the competitiveness of sectors, like steel and manufacturing, which have suffered greatly during the recession.

"The price of energy seriously affects companies, industry and, more specifically, our citizens," said the co-rapporteur for the environment committee, Anne Delvaux (European People's Party, Belgium). "If we want to reduce our energy imports we have to produce more in Europe, by making better and more efficient use of our resources. If we have a broad energy mix with greater energy efficiency, this is the best option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to encourage new technologies and innovation, create jobs, and change our economies into greener economies. This is why we need three binding objectives."

The outcome of the vote was not supported by Konrad Szymański (European Conservatives and Reformist Group, Poland), co-rapporteur from the industry committee, who withdrew his name from the report that was adopted.

"This result is not satisfactory," he argued. "We are promising ourselves, Europeans and European industry, that this new climate policy would be realistic, flexible and cost- efficient. These are very good assumptions. However, if we double the emission reduction target after 2020, it is not realistic. It is a road to reduce the competitiveness of European industry. Adopting these objectives before the 2015 Paris talks is a mistake. We should not show all our cards today before our partners say what they mean. Binding objectives on renewables and energy efficiency is not a flexible arrangement. We know well that member states and individual sectors have different capacities."

The European Commission unveiled its scaled-back climate and energy targets to 2030 in January. For additional information, see January 23, 2014, article - Europe Cuts Renewable Energy Goals.

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