“20-20-20” Passes European Parliament
- December 18th, 2008
- Posted by EUEditor
The European Parliament has approved the climate change package agreed to on the weekend by the summit of EU heads of government, allowing its provisions to be put into law.
A large majority of MEPs voted for the change, the so-called “20-20-20†objective.
A Europe-wide coalition of ecologist groups has criticised the package as too weak, especially because of exemptions granted to manufacturing and electricity industries, from the purchase of credits for carbon trading; and provisions for companies to buy carbon credits on a large scale outside of Europe.
The European Parliament announced its vote with the following statement:
“After eleven months of legislative work, the European Parliament gave its backing to the EU’s climate change package which aims to ensure that the EU will achieve its climate targets by 2020: a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a 20% improvement in energy efficiency, and a 20% share for renewables in the EU energy mix.
“Ahead of Parliament’s first-reading vote, MEPs had reached informal agreements with the French Presidency on the six proposals which all fall under the co-decision procedure, placing the European Parliament and Council on an equal footing as co-legislators.â€
(Full details on the six pieces of legislation can be found in a background note, on the European Parliament web pages, see below).
Reference:
AFP, Paris, 17.12.08, “EU parliament approves climate change package.â€
European Parliament, Strasbourg, “European Parliament seals climate change packageâ€, (Media Release; Environment – 17-12-2008 – 12:06). http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ (17.12.08).
The Scotsman, Edinburgh, 12.12.08, “EU climate change deal branded a failureâ€. www.news.scotsman.com, (18.12.08).