Brussels – Put a stop to the Meloni government’s ideology and press ahead with the ETS, the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme: This is the appeal from the MEPs of the Democratic Party, who organised a hearing at the European Parliament involving over twenty organisations from the “Sistema Italia” network to demonstrate in practice that “there is common ground between decarbonisation targets and the protection of the country’s industrial and employment base.”
The Italian government, together with nine other Member States, called for a “pragmatic and fair” review of the emissions trading scheme, one that is at the same time “clear and realistic.” And the revision has arrived in mid-July. The new text introduces greater flexibility regarding the 2040 climate targets: the emissions cap will be reduced more gradually, with a linear reduction rate of 3.7 per cent between 2031 and 2035 and 1.7 per cent between 2036 and 2040.
The ETS system is already delivering “concrete results,” the MEPs continued. “The reform of the Market Stability Reserve, an indispensable tool for keeping allowance prices in check at peak times and managing crisis periods, was approved in a first vote by Parliament in September and now requires a swift agreement. At the same time, we are working to protect sectors where emissions are difficult to reduce – such as the measures we are implementing for the ceramics industry – to safeguard the competitiveness of sectors that are key to the national economy.”
But that’s not all: “A concrete example is our commitment to the CBAM dossier, the European coal duty.” After listening to the concerns of the Italian manufacturing sector, the MEPs stated that they had “supported the extension of the scheme to new categories of processed products to protect our businesses from unfair competition from third countries. These are clear facts and illustrate the approach that the Democratic Party will continue to follow in the strategic battle over the revision of the ETS,” concluded the PD MEPs.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
