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EU unveils ambitious climate change package |
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The European Commission has launched today a set of proposals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020. Energy-efficient heating, labeling systems and emission limits for cars will play a key role.
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2008-01-23
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"The package of measures proposed today is the most far-reaching legislative proposals to be made by the European Commission for many years," Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the European Parliament shortly after unveiling a new climate action and renewable energy package on 23 January. The document, outlining a series of proposals on how EU Member States can cut emissions most effectively, targets a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2020, which could be increased to 30% in case of other developed countries joining. In addition, it seeks to raise the share of renewable energies to 20% by 2020, up from 8.5% today.
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To make the EU the most environmentally friendly economy in the world, the European Commission has set up an individual target for each Member State determined by its gross domestic product (GDP). Under the proposed legislation, no country would have to cut emissions by more than one fifth. Overall, the implementation of the climate change package would cost the EU bloc around 60 billion euro. President Barroso tried to dampen fears that this would harm the competitiveness of European companies: "The additional effort needed… would be less than 0.5 % of gross domestic product by 2020. This amounts to about three euro a week for everyone." The price of not doing anything would be more than 10 times that, he concluded.
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Key sectors: Transport & Heating
The overall 20% reduction target will be divided between heavy industries covered under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and other sectors, including transport and building, not covered by the EU ETS. While 21% of emission reductions from 2005 levels by 2020 will come from emissions trading, the remaining 10% will have to be delivered by energy-efficient heating and cooling, amongst others. This equals the 20% target from 1990 levels by 2020.
As a rule, the Commission proposal leaves it to Member States to define and implement policies and measures in these non-ETS sectors. However, the Commission will issue legislation to target CO2 emissions from cars, new efficiency standards for water heaters, and minimum labeling requirements for energy-using products. For the first time, heating and cooling systems are included as the 3rd pillar of a revised renewable energy strategy that was based solely on electricity and transport.
Next steps
The proposal will be discussed in parallel in the Council and the European Parliament. It falls under the so-called co-decision procedure, meaning that the European Parliament is co-legislator and must agree on the final legislative text. The Commission expects to push through the package by June. However, as previous cases have shown this procedure could take up to 3 years.
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More information:
 Speech Commission President Barroso, 23 Jan 2008 (77 KB)
› Commission website: Questions & Answers - Climate Change Package
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