In the context of the impact assessment presented by the European Commission on the possibility of raising the European Union's emission reduction target by 2030, Vice-Minister Guibourgé-Czetwertyński indicated that a decision to change the target made by the European Council should always be preceded by a full and detailed impact assessment.

Such an assessment should include information on the impact on each Member State and on individual sectors of the economy. The assessment presented by the European Commission does not meet these criteria, he pointed out.

He also added that the target of “at least 55%” presented in the Climate Plan for 2030 goes beyond the scope of the impact assessment due to the fact that such level of ambition was not assessed at all. In addition, based on the impact assessment, it can be assumed that the burden will not be evenly shared by all countries, but instead it will be greater for countries such as Poland, which are characterised by higher emissions.

Vice-Minister Guibourgé-Czetwertyński also pointed out that the introduction of a new EU target for 2030 would require a change of the objectives in the ETS and an update of the ETS itself. He added that the inclusion of transport and buildings in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) would be a major challenge for many Member States and industry.

We believe that the discussions on increasing the EU target for 2030 are a good time for reforming the EU ETS. The problem with the current system is that Member States that do not need more emission allowances receive them anyway, he said.

He also stressed that the costs of climate action must not be passed on to the poorer Member States and that all measures should envision protection of groups, which are the most vulnerable to their negative impact, which – according to the IA – includes the poorest citizens.

The meeting in Berlin also enabled direct talks on current issues in climate policy with Estonia and France, among others.