Climate Change, Environment, Europe, Headlines

ENVIRONMENT-EU: Legal Action Looms over Emissions

Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, May 19 2004 (IPS) - The European Union is preparing to challenge some member states over their failure to act over emissions.

European Union (EU) environment commissioner Margot Wallström said Tuesday she was preparing infringement procedures against six member states who have failed to deliver their plans to cut greenhouse gases.

These countries are now almost two months late in getting their emissions trading plans to the European Commission, the EU executive.

Only five of the 15 older EU member states – Austria, Finland, Denmark, Ireland and Germany – handed over their plans to the European Commission by the Mar. 31 deadline. Britain, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden have submitted their plans since.

Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal have yet to send theirs.

The Commission says the emissions plans are “an important weapon in the fight against climate change.”

In a bid to reduce greenhouse gases, the EU is planning to launch the world’s first multinational emissions trading scheme by January 2005.

The scheme follows the EU’s promise of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent of 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. This is in accordance with the EU’s commitment to the Kyoto Protocol even if the agreement does not come into force.

Under the scheme companies will be able to buy and sell carbon dioxide emissions allowances. Each government would be given allowances for its companies, which they could trade.

Companies that exceed their allocations will be forced to buy extra allowances from ‘cleaner’ companies or face heavy fines. To the cleaner companies the sale can mean extra income.

Some 12,000 European steel factories, power plants, oil refineries, paper mills, and glass and cement installations will be offered emission quotas.

The European Commission has taken no view on the price of allowances. That will be negotiated between the buyers and sellers.

The European Commission says these flexible mechanisms aim to meet the global emissions reduction targets in a “cost-effective way” while “transferring technology to the developing countries.”

A company can gain allowances by selling clean technology to developing countries even though the reduction in pollution comes elsewhere.

The scheme builds on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) created by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

JI projects allow governments to conduct emission-reduction projects abroad and can be undertaken in other industrialised countries that have quantitative emissions reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. CDM projects can be hosted by developing countries that have no quantitative targets.

The European Commission said last month it was “confident” that the remaining member state plans were “on their way” and that it was “just a question of time” when they would arrive.

The Commission offered “a few weeks grace” to governments that had not met the deadline. They were sent an infringement letter – a gentle warning that legal action was on the way.

But Wallström told media representatives Tuesday that “the grace period is over.”

She acknowledged that introduction of emissions trading in Europe was a “new and initially difficult way of implementing environment policy” but said the Commission “must be fair to those member states which did meet the deadline..”

The plans that have been submitted have, however, been disappointing, she said. “My first impression is that many of the notified plans go for a rather high quantity of allowances. Too many allowances, and a resulting low price of allowances, will create little incentive to change behaviour.”

Asked whether they should be asked to revise their plans, she replied, “Give us a break – we have three months to revise the plans.”

Of the 10 new EU member states, only Slovenia and Lithuania submitted their plans by the May 1 deadline.

Wallström indicated that the new member states could also expect to run into a legal challenge “in the coming weeks.” Wallström said that the Commission will “continue to work with those who are still working on their plans and will help them to try to speed up.”

Once the plans are submitted there will still be a lot to do. The Commission will have to decide whether or not the plans are ambitious enough and fair. It will decide to adopt or reject these national allocation plans by June 30.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has warned meanwhile that EU greenhouse gas emissions have increased for the second consecutive year in 2003, “moving the EU further away from meeting its commitment to achieve a substantial emissions cut by the 2008-2012 period.”