EMEA > Talks to start MSR earlier not over -France official

Talks to start MSR earlier not over -France official

Published 10:11 on April 16, 2015  /  Last updated at 09:07 on April 17, 2015  / Ben Garside /  EMEA, EU ETS

EU negotiations on whether to start the MSR before 2021 are not over, a French official participating in the member state-level talks said on Thursday, countering earlier statements by a Polish official.

EU negotiations on whether to start the MSR before 2021 are not over, a French official participating in the member state-level talks said on Thursday, countering earlier statements by a Polish official.

Alexis Dutertre, France’s deputy permanent representative to the EU in Brussels, said on Twitter that the EU ETS needed the MSR sooner to predictably regulate surplus allowances.

He was responding to remarks in a Reuters article on Wednesday by Poland’s top climate official Marcin Korolec that member states had ended discussions on the 2021 start date.

“I don’t think the date is on the table, but a number of other issues are on the table, (such as) unallocated allowances and the question of backloaded allowances,” Korolec said on the sidelines of an informal meeting of all EU environment and energy ministers in Riga.

The next trilogue talks with between the three EU institutions are due to resume on May 5 and May 26 but the Council requires a fresh mandate from the Council of member states to do so.

Council chair Latvia has said it will be more difficult to secure this mandate than for the first trilogue as Germany in particular is still pushing for an earlier start.

Guido Knoche, an official working on climate issues for Germany’s environment ministry but tweeting in a personal capacity, tweeted: “Starting in 2021 undermines one of core MSR purposes quite strongly and wouldn’t be good news for the EU ETS.”

Poland has previously managed to secure enough support for a blocking minority insisting on the 2021 date but analysts say this backing may falter as the majority of EU nations and a comfortable majority of the MEPs that voted in the assembly’s environment committee favour earlier action.

 

By Ben Garside – ben@carbon-pulse.com