"EU summit set to turn climate agenda upside down"
From EurActiv:
Europe’s plan to decarbonise its economy by 2050
could be turned on its head at a summit today (22 May) if EU heads of
state and government sign off on measures prioritising industrial
competitiveness over climate change in draft conclusions seen by
EurActiv.
The draft text says that EU policy must
ensure “competitive” energy prices, and declares it “crucial” that
Europe diversify its energy supply and develop “indigenous energy
resources” – a reference to renewable energies, but also coal, nuclear
power and shale gas.
One high-profile German MEP Holger Krahmer (ALDE), hailed the end of “climate hysteria” in a jubilant press statement.
“For the first time, rising energy costs and the declining
competitiveness of the European economy will be rated higher than
obviously unenforceable global climate change ambitions,” he said.
“The economic and social consequences of collective hysteria can no
longer be ignored, as the governments of the EU member states admit in
this paper,” Krahmer added, saying that it was right to give more
attention to energy sources such as gas and coal.
The draft summit conclusions also pledge to review the causes and
nature of Europe’s energy price costs by the end of the year, and look
more closely at industrial competitiveness.
Luxembourg MEP Claude Turmes (Greens) branded the document
“appalling” in its entirety and a “dramatic setback” for
environmentalists.
Decisive lobbying
The shift in emphasis by European leaders follows the rejection of a
proposed reform of the EU's depressed Emissions Trading System (ETS),
pushed by the Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, which sought to
boost CO2 prices.
The measure had been heavily resisted by energy-intensive industries
and the business employers’ federation, BusinessEurope, which argued
against artificially raising carbon prices – and therefore energy costs –
in a slow economy....MORE
