Christodoulides says Commission understands need to delay ETS2 beyond 2028
Cyprus is among seven countries seeking to postpone ETS2, with Christodoulides saying the European Commission understands the importance of a further delay.
Brussels, Belgium. President Nikos Christodoulides said on Friday that he believed the European Commission understood the need to postpone the EU’s new emissions trading system, ETS2, beyond 2028. His remarks followed extensive discussions during Thursday’s opening day of the European Council summit.
Cyprus backs further postponement
Referring to the summit conclusions released early on Friday, Christodoulides said their current wording satisfied Cyprus and expressed confidence that the Commission recognised the importance of another postponement.
He said introducing ETS2 according to the existing timetable would leave households and businesses facing additional payments while already contending with high energy costs arising from a crisis whose duration remained uncertain.
Cyprus has backed suspending implementation alongside six other countries: Greece, Italy and the four Visegrad countries — the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
In its conclusions, the European Council asked the Commission to revise its assessment of the full effects of ETS2, with particular attention to the system’s design and safeguards.
Babis warns of electoral consequences
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis also expressed hope on Friday morning that implementation would be postponed. Addressing EU leaders backing the 2028 deadline, he warned: “if you want ETS2 I guarantee you will lose elections”.
His criticism extended to the existing emissions trading system, now called ETS1, which has operated since 2005.
“ETS1 is destroying European industry, while ETS2 will destroy the lives of European citizens,” he said.
Babis added that repeated discussions about energy prices had not, in his view, shown that the European Council understood the gravity of the situation.
Council affirms emissions trading role
The council’s conclusions offered a contrasting assessment, describing emissions trading as essential to the climate and energy transition. They said a market-based carbon price encouraged investment and innovation.
According to the European Commission, ETS2 will address carbon dioxide released by burning fuels in buildings, road transport and other sectors. The Commission said those additional sectors consisted chiefly of smaller industrial operations outside the scope of the current emissions trading system.
This news item was generated automatically by Cyprus Inform from publicly available materials. Report an error →