Saturday

30th Sep 2023

London and Prague call for 'light touch' on EU climate goals

  • London smog: The UK wants the EU to leave it to national governments how to reach energy goals for 2030 (Photo: stu mayhew)

The UK and the Czech Republic want the EU to have a “light touch” approach towards the bloc's climate and energy targets for 2030, leaving it to national governments to police themselves on achieving the goals.

They also want the EU, if necessary, to support member states that want to invest in nuclear energy or underground storage of carbon, instead of in renewable energy sources, according to a leaked document.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

In October 2014, government leaders agreed in Brussels that the EU would reduce its emission of greenhouse gases by at least 40 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

They also settled on a target of at least 27 percent share of renewable energy in 15 years time, and an increase in energy efficiency of at least 27 percent.

How individual countries would be encouraged or penalised in order to achieve these targets was not specified.

But leaders agreed that a “governance system” would be set up to make sure the EU meets its climate and energy targets.

British newspaper the Guardian on Tuesday (6 January) reported on the existence of a lobbying paper, outlining a British-Czech wishlist on how that system should look like.

The document, an informal so-called non-paper which was undated, was published Wednesday by blogger Alice Stollmeyer.

Although the UK's minister for energy and climate change Edward Davey wrote that the article in the Guardian was “factually wrong”, he indirectly affirmed the authenticity of the document by referring to it in social media messages.

The non-paper calls on the commission to come up with a proposal for the governance system that will “focus on the EU’s collective progress towards EU energy goals … rather than focussing on details of implementation at national level”.

The document asks the commission to “be light touch and non-legislative so as to respect member state flexibility over its choice of measures and technologies”.

The paper also requests that the commission support nuclear energy or carbon capture and storage (CCS) as equal alternatives to renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. CCS is an experimental and controversial method of storing instead of emitting greenhouse gases.

The paper wants the commission to come forward with “a new CCS strategy for Europe as early as possible”.

While the EU has the power to co-legislate policies that combat climate change, nations still have complete sovereignty over deciding their “energy mix”.

The UK and Czech Republic are below the EU's average share of renewable energy, with 4.2 and 11.2 percent, respectively, compared to the EU's average of 14.1 percent in 2012, according to Eurostat.

Although there are environmental and safety concerns for nuclear energy, it can help reduce a nation's greenhouse gas emissions. So if the UK and the Czech Republic lower their carbon emissions via other means, for instance, by increasing their dependence on nuclear energy, Brussels will not have any basis to scold them for it.

The UK government recently received permission from the commission to subsidise the construction of a nuclear power plant, which is to account for 7 percent of the country's electricity needs.

In December, Reuters reported that the Czech Republic's centre-left government revised energy strategy included plans to boost its reliance on nuclear power.

Europe holds off on storing CO2

Most reports looking at long-term climate scenarios agree that some form of carbon capture and storage is needed. However, its deployment has been stalled in the EU.

IEA says: Go green now, save €11 trillion later

The International Energy Agency finds that the clean energy investment needed to stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius warming saves $12 trillion [€11.3 trillion] in fuel expenditure — and creates double the amount of jobs lost in fossil fuel-related industries.

Opinion

How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?

The EU Commission's new magic formula for avoiding scrutiny is simple. You declare the documents in question to be "short-lived correspondence for a preliminary exchange of views" and thus exempt them from being logged in the official inventory.

Latest News

  1. EU women promised new dawn under anti-violence pact
  2. Three steps EU can take to halt Azerbaijan's mafia-style bullying
  3. Punish Belarus too for aiding Putin's Ukraine war
  4. Added-value for Russia diamond ban, as G7 and EU prepare sanctions
  5. EU states to agree on asylum crisis bill, say EU officials
  6. Poland's culture of fear after three years of abortion 'ban'
  7. Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling
  8. Germany tightens police checks on Czech and Polish border

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  2. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  2. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  3. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  4. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us