2019-06-21 09:27 update: 2019-06-25, 18:28
Photo PAP/Paweł Supernak
Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki said in Brussels on Thursday that the adoption of new climate policy goals must be responsible. "This means responsibility for citizens and energy costs. We need concrete things on the table," he said.
A decision to go carbon-neutral by 2050 was blocked by Poland and several other EU countries during the Thursday EU summit. According to unofficial sources, the other countries are the Czech Republic, Hungary and Estonia.
The Polish prime minister underlined after the first part of the EU summit that the proposed changes might incur huge costs and that Poland had to be offered clearly-defined compensation mechanisms.
"We must know what additional money could be allotted to Poland for the modernisation of particular branches of the economy so that possible changes and new obligations, which may appear as a result of the EU climate policy, should reflect the stage of our economic development and our challenges, as well as our risks," he told reporters.
"Together with the Visegrad Group and Estonia we have created a situation in which the year 2050 has not been included in the decisions taken by the summit, and (...) this means that the EU has not adopted additional and more ambitious climate goals, and that in this way we have secured the interests of Polish businessmen and citizens, who would face the risk of additional taxes and costs. And we could not accept this," he emphasised.
"We must have a full and very detailed analysis and concrete things on the table. (We have to know) what additional money could be allotted to Poland, Polish businessmen and citizens so that we do not end up in an offside trap," he added.
Morawiecki stressed that he had firmly defended Poland's interests and underlined that Poland wanted to take care of the climate. "And this context must be taken into account," he said.
"Energy transformation connected with climate change and the adoption of possible new goals must be just, must be responsible, and this means responsibility for our citizens, for energy costs, and for costs related to additional risks stemming from the approval of new goals," he said.
The prime minister stressed that concrete sectors and regions, like, for instance, Upper Silesia (southern Poland), must be taken into account in a new compromise.
"We have given ourselves time in order to work out a just compromise so that all industries, branches, regions and member states should be treated in an honest way. This was a good, sincere debate, and finally our position was adopted," he added but remarked that it was also difficult.
"Poland's position was strongly attacked by some countries. But on the other hand, some states, even if they supported the new climate goals, admitted that they understood Poland and agreed that the matter should be settled in a way proposed by Poland."
The EU has been working on a new climate strategy, which is planned to lay down new goals concerning the reduction of greenhouse gasses, and which will decide what the EU climate policy is to look like in coming decades. The plan for the EU is to reach net zero emissions by 2050. This means that the EU should absorb as much as it emits by 2050.
In an interview with PAP, PM Morawiecki underlined that Poland "is in a completely different situation than Western European countries which were lucky to find themselves on the right side of the Iron Curtain."
"In fact, for nearly five decades Poland could not develop, could not invest in modern technologies, and had no access to nuclear energy. And now some countries, including Poland, are being forced to rapidly rebuild their system, without taking into account historical conditions. And in this context I recalled the huge effort made by Polish industry, proof of which is Poland's 'surplus' implementation of the reduction goal envisaged by the Kyoto protocol," he explained.
Poland "is a supporter of an ambitious and innovative climate policy since this is a very important element of Poland's development. But we cannot accept a situation in which Polish businesspeople are to bear costs which are disproportionate to energy consumption and related carbon dioxide emissions."
The prime minister emphasised that Poland "will continue to defend this position. What we need first is a compensation package, and later there can be a debate about possible new climate goals," he said. (PAP)
at/ ej
