EU ETS for shipping delayed as parliament rejects proposal
The European Parliament yesterday voted against the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) reform that includes an extension of the ETS to cover shipping.
PHOTO: European Parliament MEPs blaming each other as ETS gets voted out. European Union
The ETS proposal was surprisingly rejected with 340 MEPs votes against, and 265 votes in favour, as well as 34 abstentions.
“It is a bad day for the European Parliament,” said European People’s Party (EPP) lawmaker Pieter Liese who was the rapporteur of the ETS proposal.
He found the European Green Party and Socialsts & Democrats responsible for the rejection of the Environmental Committee’s proposal on ETS. Accepting the proposal would have allowed shipping to be included in the ETS much earlier than the Commission had initially anticipated, adds Liese.
Liese made a request for the ETS proposal to be referred back to the Environmental Committee to build consensus on the reform and possibly trigger a new vote after the summer. This request was accepted by his colleagues.
Clean transport NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) reckons that political disagreements should be kept aside to avoid any delays to rolling out ETS for shipping and road transport.
“Negotiators should come back to the table as soon as possible and maintain the ambitious measures already agreed for road and shipping,” T&E aviation director Jo Dardenne said.
Last month, the European Parliament's Environment Committee voted in favour of an extensive emissions regulations agenda that would include shipping emissions in the EU ETS.
The proposal approved by Environment Committee included ETS on all ship emissions from intra-European voyages to be included by 2024. Half of the emissions from voyages to and from EU countries would be included between 2024-2026, before being expanded to 100% from 2027.
Following an approval from the Environment Committee, the proposal needed a green light from European Parliament members. But with a majority of members voting against, the process has now been pushed back.
