A meeting of the European Council is taking place in Brussels. Charles Michel from Belgium is chairing the meeting for the first time since becoming president of the council. The talks are focussed on the new EU plan, announced yesterday, to achieve climate neutrality, and the new EU budget. Aleksandra Zarzycka, our special correspondent, reports from Brussels.
”Yesterday the European Commission presented a new long term program until 2050, the European Green Deal. In order to help various countries meet the expected milestones, a fund of about 100 billion Euros fund is being proposed, called the Just Transition Fund. The program presented is challenging and complicated, and for some countries might be very difficult to achieve. The European Council is meeting for the first time to discuss the complicated implications for various member countries, implications for the economy and for their citizenry. The changes are called radical by some politicians and there are concerns about the cost. Poland is dependent on coal for its energy supply and the Polish Prime Minister will address just that”- says Aleksandra Zarzycka, TV Republika.
”Poland has made enormous efforts in recent years in order to reduce CO2 emissions and to work on climate programs, such as „Clean Air”. We will continue those efforts. We need to point out here that the cost of energy source transformation is much higher than in other countries, which had more luck and developed some of the green energy sources earlier. We have to take into account all aspects of costs for Poland, such as costs borne by society and costs incurred by the Polish economy. We are here to explain our situation to other EU members”- says Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland.
”Besides climate change, the discussion of the current session will also focus on budget discussions. There is no anticipation of reaching a full agreement. The negotiations are described as difficult and it will take some time to work out a satisfactory agreement. The European Commission is also to discuss an extension of sanctions against Russia in connection with the conflict in Ukraine”- says Aleksandra Zarzycka, TV Republika.