BRUSSELS – Ten countries, including Italy and Poland, have urged the European Union to reconsider a new carbon price on fuel, as part of a separate revision of the bloc’s carbon market, according to a joint statement seen by Reuters.
Their opposition to the levy risks upending plans to update Brussels’ main climate change policy, the emissions trading system (ETS), and could pit them against proponents of the new charge like Germany and Sweden.
The European Commission will on Friday propose a revision of the trading system, which forces power plants, factories, airlines and shipping firms to pay for their CO2 emissions.
In a statement shared with the Commission on Tuesday, the 10 countries said it should use the revision to also rethink a new CO2 price, known as ETS2, that the EU plans to impose on heating and transport fuels from 2028.
“European citizens should not be facing new climate taxes in current economic and geopolitical circumstances. ETS2 should be therefore addressed directly in the revision and carefully reconsidered,” the statement said.
