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From /apa, August 14, 2024, 4:46 p.m.
Image: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH
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Image: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH
VIENNA/EU-WIDE/BRUSSELS. It was not enough to submit the final Austrian National Energy and Climate Plan (NEKP) to the EU Commission on time – that would have been on June 30th – but now an agreement has been reached between the ÖVP and the Greens.
Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) made such an announcement to the “Kleine Zeitung” (online) on Wednesday. Work on the NEKP is in the home stretch, according to a statement from the Ministry of the Environment.
Read more: Maurer: “We often fought with tough tactics”
Austria will shortly submit a completed climate plan, “where we will demonstrate how we achieve our climate goals through climate protection measures at home. Because we are protecting our climate in Austria instead of buying expensive certificates from abroad.” Based on the draft from 2023, further measures are required. This includes, for example, the abolition of climate-damaging subsidies – this will be laid down in the Austrian climate plan. As soon as the final details are available, we will present the finished plan. This will be the case in the coming days,” the ministry said in a statement to the APA.
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Overarching overall objectives instead of specific sectoral objectives
According to Brunner, the new NEKP no longer contains any specific targets for individual sectors, but rather overarching overall targets for CO2 reduction. The possibility of carbon capture storage (CCS) is important for the ÖVP, and there is now a recommendation for approval. “We have found a way that meets the needs of the Austrian economy, the people and our climate goals, and we avoid ideologically driven measures,” said Brunner.
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After the deadline had passed, Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) and Finance Minister Brunner wrote to the EU asking for an extension until after the summer. As Gewessler said at the time, the trigger was not a coalition dispute. In the NECPs, the EU member states are to determine which measures they want to take to achieve the EU-wide target of a 55 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030.
No draft yet due to intra-coalition dispute
Austria has not yet officially submitted a draft due to an intra-coalition dispute. Gewessler had already sent a draft to Brussels in October 2023 with some delay. However, European Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) recalled it, informing the Commission that Gewessler’s draft had not been agreed upon in the government and therefore did not represent Austria’s position. Since then, both ministers have blamed each other for Austria’s missing draft.
As a result, the EU Commission initiated infringement proceedings against Austria in December 2023. The drafts submitted are intended to give the Commission the opportunity to evaluate the plans and provide feedback, which can then be incorporated into the final version. On the occasion of the government agreement on the final NEKP, the environmental protection organization WWF is calling for an ambitious and rapid implementation of the planned measures in practice. Greenpeace described the agreement as “welcome”, but demanded that “emissions be radically reduced”, as well as the elimination of climate-damaging subsidies and the promotion of climate-friendly mobility.
When it comes to abolishing climate-damaging subsidies, the ÖAMTC is faced with the question of “what political majorities there will be for this”, after all the leading candidates for the National Council elections have already “spoken out against further burdens or the elimination of relief”. When it comes to affordable mobility while reducing CO2 emissions, the club is relying on a gradual increase in the amount of biofuel blended into its fuel. According to Bernhard Wiesinger, head of the ÖAMTC lobby group, it is positive that sector-specific targets are not being set and that “CO2 reduction – wherever it takes place – is being given priority”.
SPÖ environmental spokeswoman Julia Herr described the NEKP draft as a bad compromise: “The last draft of the NEKP already missed the target by 13 percent. Now the individual sector targets are also being dropped.” The ÖVP is signaling to “companies that ‘it’s better to wait and see, a loophole will open up'”.
This article was last updated on August 14th at 7:05 p.m.
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