MEPs to decide on ETS 2 changes: price cap and allowance reserves at stake

Strasbourg, 15 September (CTK special correspondent) – Members of the European Parliament will vote today on changes to the rules for trading emissions allowances for building heating and road transport. On the second day of the plenary session in Strasbourg, they will also approve changes concerning the so-called carbon tariff and discuss how to prepare better for heatwaves in the future.

Parliament will vote on a proposal to amend the ETS 2 emissions trading system, for which Czech MEP Danuše Nerudová (STAN), of the largest political group, the European People’s Party (EPP), is rapporteur. In June, MEPs agreed with representatives of the member states to introduce a price cap of 45 euros (1100 crowns) per tonne of CO2 emitted. Once that threshold is reached, allowances would automatically be released from the Market Stability Reserve (MSR).

Lawmakers will also vote on expanding the scope of the carbon tariff and creating a so-called decarbonisation fund. Several debates are also on the plenary session’s agenda. MEPs will discuss with representatives of the European Commission and Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU the consequences of, and possible lessons from, the exceptional heatwave that hit Europe this summer. They will also discuss how to respond better to a similar influx of migrants to the one experienced by the Spanish city of Ceuta in North Africa at the end of July.