The Vice-President and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, has reiterated Spain’s rejection of the Commission’s proposal to include gas and nuclear energy among the technologies considered sustainable by the European Taxonomy before the EU Environment and Energy Ministers meeting in Amiens (France).
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A controversial proposal “that could distort and generate confusion” when it comes to channelling sustainable investments in the EU, Ribera pointed out. “Neither nuclear nor gas meet the scientific and legal criteria to be considered sustainable or receive the same treatment as unquestionably green technologies, such as wind or solar, and they go against the priorities of a process of decarbonisation of the European economy without environmental risks,” she said.
The Vice-President was referring to the allegations presented by Spain to the proposal of the College of Commissioners and to the letter signed together with Austria, Denmark and Luxembourg, in which the four countries stated their rejection of including gas and nuclear energy in the Taxonomy. The criterion applied to gas, of not emitting more than 270 grams of CO2/kWh, is above the IPCC and IEA recommendations and would de facto eliminate the “no significant harm” (DNSH) principle established in the first Taxonomy proposal, set at precisely that level of emission.
In the case of nuclear, the negative impact of high-level radioactive waste is well documented and is incompatible with DNSH. The treatment of such waste entails very high costs and we still lack a proven and definitive solution for it, after 60 years of using the technology. Moreover, accidents such as Chernobyl and Fukushima are clear examples of the risks of nuclear energy.
Spain, in short, considers that the Commission’s proposal sends a very bad signal to the financial markets to direct their investment towards truly sustainable and low-risk technology. Furthermore, it warns that it could significantly reduce investment in unquestionably clean sources, thus threatening the energy transition process and the achievement of European decarbonisation objectives.
Energy prices
With regard to the escalation of energy prices and the worsening of the crisis situation in Ukraine, Spain insisted on the need to develop mechanisms to protect consumers from the volatility of raw materials on international markets, beyond the Commission’s proposals set out in its Toolbox Communication.
“We are going to insist, once again, on the importance of the EU considering in the emergency plan what exceptional measures can be adopted in the regulatory context so that this very complicated situation with regard to gas does not also have such an exorbitant impact on electricity prices”, Ribera pointed out.
The Toolbox proposals are based on financial transfers from public budgets and high-income consumers to vulnerable consumers and industry. Therefore, they can only be applied by certain states, generating inequality, distorting competition and even encouraging relocation to countries with more coverage, thus undermining market unity.
Spain considers that the EU should, after a wide-ranging debate, establish mechanisms to return the extraordinary income obtained from the extraordinary price of energy to consumers, instead of using funds provided by taxpayers or other consumers.
Just transition and forests
The informal meeting convened by the French Presidency of the EU on Friday discussed the role of the impacts of the Fit for 55% regulatory package – which sets out the EU’s commitment to a 55% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 – on the lives of European citizens and the challenges it represents in terms of equity and social justice. The transition towards the decarbonisation of the European economy must be fair and “will only be successful if we have the support of the public and are able to show them the benefits and opportunities of this process”, the Vice-President stressed.
Spain considers that the Commission’s proposal on Just Transition provides a basis on which to work, although it raises some concerns based on social equity and the equitable distribution of effort for countries and sectors, as well as equalising the climate cohesion of impacts and risks between the south and north of Europe. For example, it considers that the application of the CO2 market to transport and building should be studied with caution and that the distribution of the additional CO2 absorption effort between member states should be better analysed.
Spain believes it is essential that the legislative scheme on which the Commission intends to advance respects the particularities of each region, allows flexibility to member states and provides sufficient funds to ensure an inclusive transition and the adaptation of workers and professionals to the new business models in all sectors.
One such sector discussed today by the informal Council is forests and timber. The representatives of the member states and the Commission analysed their role in the EU’s environmental, energy and climate policies as carbon sinks and key elements for building resilience to global warming with nature-based solutions, or their uses and implications from an energy point of view as biomass.
The Spanish position emphasises the need to establish economic and fiscal incentives to conserve mature forests for their capacity to sequester CO2 and as protectors of the soil and guarantors of biodiversity, as well as to activate forest management for sustainable forestry, with high added value and generating employment, capable of revitalising rural areas at risk of depopulation.
Accelerating the transition process
In any case, it believes that the development of renewable energies and energy savings and efficiency should be speeded up so that consumers can benefit from their advantages as soon as possible and the EU’s dependence on energy imports and the volatility of international raw materials markets can be reduced.