A compromise seems to be emerging regarding the investment requirement put forward by the European Commission for the reform of the European Emissions Trading System (ETS). Peter Liese (CDU), the European Member of Parliament responsible for the emissions trading reform, is advocating for this requirement to apply only to a specific subset of certificates.
Liese told Handelsblatt that he is considering tying the investment obligation solely to “the certificates that are made available through the revision and are subject to conditionality.” While it is true that the Commission has proposed requiring investments in return for free certificates, Liese noted, “As always, the devil is in the details. As a rapporteur, I plan to soften the rigid system established by the Commission.” Specifically, he suggested that starting at the beginning of the next ETS trading period in 2031, the investment requirement could be applied only to the additional certificates.
The EU Commission put forth its plans for revising the emissions trading system on July 17th, following months of extensive discussion. Now, both the EU Parliament and the Council are tasked with setting their positions. These proposals have drawn sharp criticism from industry stakeholders, who characterize the plan as “state investment steering.”
