On Tuesday, during a press conference held by Law and Justice (PiS) and the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarity (NSZZ “Solidarność”), a report on the European Emissions Trading System was presented. “The demand to withdraw from ETS is a necessity. It is not a question of whether we can or whether we can afford it, or how to do it. It is a matter of necessity if we want to save Polish household budgets, if we want to save Polish companies, if we want to save jobs,” said Prof. Przemysław Czarnek, Law and Justice (PiS) candidate for prime minister.
Przemysław Czarnek recalled that the Law and Justice (PiS) parliamentary club had submitted a draft resolution calling on Donald Tusk to take all necessary steps to withdraw Poland from the ETS. “This monstrosity is the reason we have the highest electricity prices in the European Union today and the fastest-growing ones. But this ETS monstrosity also causes enormous district heating costs in the rents of all apartment residents in Poland. This ETS monstrosity also leads to a loss of competitiveness of Polish companies, which quickly results in unemployment, company closures, and the relocation of businesses abroad, where energy is cheaper, causing major problems on the labor market,” the former Minister of Education stressed.
Absurd Requirements
He pointed out that the EU wants to introduce ETS2. He added that, according to experts, homeowners would have to spend between PLN 250,000 and PLN 600,000 on building upgrades to meet what he described as absurd requirements. He emphasized that this does not apply only to single-family houses. “Everyone will pay 45 groszy or more per liter of fuel. Everyone – because ETS2 will also have an impact on that. This is anti-human, anti-social madness,” said Prof. Czarnek.
Leave to Save Household Budgets
He assessed that it is possible to exit the system and that Law and Justice (PiS) is urging Donald Tusk to do so. He added that if this does not happen, Law and Justice (PiS) will introduce changes when it returns to power.
During the conference, speakers recalled the several-fold increase in emission allowance prices, which has caused serious problems. It was pointed out that this system is significantly more expensive than, for example, the Chinese system. It was emphasized that Poland will be one of the societies most affected by this system due to the large share of older passenger cars, lower wealth levels, and the occurrence of freezing temperatures.
“The demand to withdraw from ETS is a necessity. It is not a question of whether we can or whether we can afford it, or how to do it. It is a matter of necessity if we want to save Polish household budgets, if we want to save Polish companies, if we want to save jobs,” concluded Przemysław Czarnek.