France is interested in a Polish proposal to freeze CO2 emission costs at EUR 30 per tonne, a deputy foreign minister has said.
Pawel Jablonski said that Emmanuel Macron had expressed his interest during a meeting with Mateusz Morawiecki in Paris on Monday.
Poland has said that speculation is helping drive up the price of carbon, adding to the financial burden of energy-intensive industries.
“Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki suggested during a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday that the cost of CO2 emission in the current system of the EU emission allowances (EUA) should be frozen for two years at the level of EUR 30 per tonne,” Jablonski told a private television programme.
“…and today, the price of these allowances stands between EUR 80-85. This was completely unthinkable two years ago,” Jablonski said, adding that this growth had been caused by speculation and not market conditions.
He added that Poland had suggested that the EU should return to the situation before 2020.
“Of course, this is possible as this is a decision which can be taken by the EU… the EC and the EU have the right to resort to extraordinary measures in crises. This is also an element of Europe’s energy security,” Jablonski said.
President Macron had received the Polish proposal “with huge interest,” Jablonski said, but much would depend on the position of other countries.
“There are EU countries, which are well-off and that can continue to operate in this situation, which is harmful to the states which are not so wealthy,” Jablonski continued, adding that this had made the ETS system vulnerable to speculation.
“Poland has long maintained that this should be changed,” the deputy minister said.
“Today, the EU should draw conclusions from the mistakes which have led to the current situation, in which the entire continent keeps asking itself if it can survive the coming winter without Russian gas,” Jablonski said.
“This entire situation has resulted from the faulty politics towards Russia,” Jablonski concluded.