Poland’s opposition Conservatives (PiS) have submitted a resolution to the country’s parliament calling on the government to start the process of leaving the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS)
The move was announced yesterday by the PiS’ candidate for prime minister Przemysław Czarnek at a press conference held at a coal-fired power station in Warsaw.
“Out with the ETS, no more of this Brussels scam,” declared Czarnek pointing to the most recent Eurostat data that showed electricity prices rising by 20 per cent in Poland year on year, the third-highest rise in the EU.
The same figures also showed that, when comparing electricity prices to the cost of living, Poland has the second-most expensive electricity among all member states.
According to Czarnek, leaving ETS would “cut energy bills several dozen per cent”.
The ETS, is a cap-and-trade scheme launched in 2005 that makes member states pay for carbon emissions. It is particularly onerous for Poland, which relies heavily on coal to generate well over half its power.
“It’s unacceptable that Poles are a cash machine for the absurd leftist climate policy of the EU. Stop the EU’s eco-terrorism,” declared Czarnek. He has said that Poland must not close down its coal industry and should continue to rely on it for its power supplies.
Last year, Poland’s constitutional court ruled that the EU’s energy and climate regulations, including ETS, are incompatible with Poland’s Constitution because they are a breach of national sovereignty.
Poland’s PiS-allied President Karol Nawrocki today wrote to the government urging it to make representations at the European Council to end the ETS scheme because of the damage it has been doing to the Polish economy and energy prices.
The centre-left government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk argues that the ETS is part of EU law and that Poland would either have to pay large fines for failing to comply or would have to leave the EU.
“Poland’s exit from ETS means Poland’s exit from the EU,” warned climate minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska. That is an argument the government is making repeatedly to portray PiS and other right-wing opposition parties as being harbingers of “Polexit” – Poland leaving the EU.
The Tusk administration also regards the constitutional court as illegitimate and does not honour its rulings. It alleges that it contains judges whose elections were questioned and it has judges who are under the influence of the PiS.
The government has argued that it is liaising with other member states to reform the ETS so it becomes more flexible and less costly. It believes that the targeted 90 per cent reduction in emissions by 2040 is impossible given the need for gas and coal-fired plants before the country has nuclear power.
Tusk’s government enjoys a relatively comfortable majority in parliament as it holds 243 out of the 460 seats, so the opposition cannot expect to pass any resolution or legislation it may submit.
The ETS issue has been raised by the PiS in an effort to counter the rise of other right-wing parties who have campaigned on that and other EU related issues over the past months.
Czarnek’s nomination to be the candidate for PM is also seen in the context of countering the rise of the Confederation party and the Polish Crown party to the right of the PiS. Czarnek’s views are closer to those parties as opposed to the more pragmatic stance taken by the last PiS prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
