Poland leads charge against EU climate package
PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp
16.10.2014 14:05
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‘Europe shouldn’t be naïve’ over proposed climate package, says Poland’s Deputy PM Janusz Piechociński ahead of an EU climate summit in Brussels on 23-24 October. John Beauchamp reports.
Poland’s Economy Minister and Deputy PM Janusz Piechocinski has said that the EU’s proposal on CO2 emissions reduction would “destroy European industry”.
photo - CC/wikipedia
The comment comes ahead of an ambitious EU climate change deal to be discussed at a summit in Brussels next week, which aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 percent of the 1990 level by 2030.
Not only is this unrealistic, say Polish politicians, but such a move could also harm the economy, reports John Beauchamp.
According to Poland’s Economy Minister and deputy prime minister Janusz Piechocinski, the current proposal would destroy European industry.
“Europe shouldn’t be naïve, and it shouldn’t decide on anything which would be harmful for European industry,” Piechocinski told Polish Radio, Thursday morning.
Poland’s stance has been slammed by environmental organisations, including Client Earth, a group of environmental activist lawyers.
“It’s hard to imagine that the new Polish PM, Ewa Kopacz, would make her debut on European policy by vetoing the Council conclusion on climate energy policy after 2020,” says Client Earth’s Ilona Jędrasik, adding that “it would also put Poland’s proposal for an energy union in a bad light”.
Meanwhile, Paweł Smoleń, the President of the EURACOAL, a Brussels-based umbrella organisation of the European coal industry, says that he is waiting “for more pragmatic rather than idealistic solutions” in combatting CO2 emissions, as the EU also has to take into account energy pricing and security of supply.