BERLIN, Dec 24 (Reuters) The German government, which has been fighting a European Commission order to lower its future carbon dioxide (CO2) allocations to industry, must obey the ruling, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said today.
Barroso said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag the Commission had assigned Germany a lower target than the government had set itself for Europe's carbon trading scheme for the period 2008 to 2012, and that it must be respected.
''We made our determination on the basis of objective criteria,'' Barroso said just days before Germany takes over the EU's rotating six-month presidency amid high hopes despite the unresolved battle over CO2 allocations.
''Based on that, Germany will have to lower its CO2 emissions to 453 million tonnes in the 2008 to 2012 period. After all, it's our joint goal to fight climate change!'' The Commission, the EU's executive, ruled Germany's quota for 2008-2012, the second phase of the scheme, must not exceed 453 million tonnes per year, down from Berlin's proposal of 465 million tonnes.
Other EU leaders told Germany the issue is not negotiable.
Energy companies such as RWE and E ON expect to be hard hit by tougher targets and have said they may cancel investments in new power stations if the EU decisions turn out too heavy-handed.
Germany relies on highly polluting coal burning for half of its electricity needs so cannot quickly change its policies.
The EU caps emissions of CO2 -- widely blamed for global warming -- but allows affected firms to buy and sell permits, putting a price on carbon which is meant to drive a switch to clean sources of energy.
REUTERS DKA PM1744
Barroso said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag the Commission had assigned Germany a lower target than the government had set itself for Europe's carbon trading scheme for the period 2008 to 2012, and that it must be respected.
''We made our determination on the basis of objective criteria,'' Barroso said just days before Germany takes over the EU's rotating six-month presidency amid high hopes despite the unresolved battle over CO2 allocations.
''Based on that, Germany will have to lower its CO2 emissions to 453 million tonnes in the 2008 to 2012 period. After all, it's our joint goal to fight climate change!'' The Commission, the EU's executive, ruled Germany's quota for 2008-2012, the second phase of the scheme, must not exceed 453 million tonnes per year, down from Berlin's proposal of 465 million tonnes.
Other EU leaders told Germany the issue is not negotiable.
Energy companies such as RWE
Germany relies on highly polluting coal burning for half of its electricity needs so cannot quickly change its policies.
The EU caps emissions of CO2 -- widely blamed for global warming -- but allows affected firms to buy and sell permits, putting a price on carbon which is meant to drive a switch to clean sources of energy.
REUTERS DKA PM1744
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