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Climate goals: Making our energy system greener and more competitive

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20140131PHT34403_originalCO2 emissions should be cut and the amount of renewable energy boosted to make our energy system more competitive and greener, but by how much? The European Commission proposes to cut emissions by 40% compared to the level in 1990 and increase the share for renewable energy to 27% by 2030, however many MEPs have criticised the plans, which will be voted on during next week's plenary. Find out what the MEPs in charge of steering the proposal through Parliament have to say about it.

About the current proposal

Anne Delvaux, a Belgian member of the EPP group, said: The proposal is an acceptable work base but needs to be refined and improved quickly.

Konrad Szymański, a Polish member of the ECR group, said: The proposal is probably a step in the right direction in new solutions for renewable energy sources. It gives member states more flexibility and a better allocation of investments. We do not know anything about the efficiency. But a 40% CO2 reduction is out of touch with the economic reality of Europe. The European Commission hasn't learnt anything from the failure of our unilateral climate policy.

About the Emissions Trading System (ETS)

Delvaux: The Commission has identified the problem well, but intends to address it in 2021. It’s too late!

Szymański: ETS was designed as a market tool to reduce emissions. With the new proposals we clearly see that the Commission wants to use it as a financial tool to artificially create a market for renewable energy sources. This is wrong. We should not break the compromise we got in 2008.

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About what should be done

Delvaux: Energy efficiency alone would enable us to create thousands of jobs in Europe, not to mention improving our protection of our environment and our climate.

Szymański: A new reduction mechanism should be based on purely market ETS. Reduction ambitions should be correlated with the international agreement. We should probably  think about different proposals for electricity producers and energy intensive industry.

Watch the debate live on 4 February by clicking here.

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