EU Parliament Backs Carbon Market Reform

The European Parliament on Wednesday voted to adopt reforms to the EU's carbon market, reversing its surprise rejection two weeks ago of an initial draft of a key part of the bloc's climate plan

Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jun, 2022 ) :The European Parliament on Wednesday voted to adopt reforms to the EU's carbon market, reversing its surprise rejection two weeks ago of an initial draft of a key part of the bloc's climate plan.

The vote this time saw 439 MEPs in favour -- with 157 against and 32 abstentions -- of a parliamentary position to negotiate with EU member states for an enlargement of Europe's Emissions Trading System (ETS) to include carbon from transport and construction.

The compromise also calls for a gradual phase-out of exemptions for industry over five years to 2032 in exchange for a carbon tax on imports at the EU's borders from 2027.

The first vote was narrowly defeated on June 8 when socialists and extremists in the parliament cast 339 ballots against it, overwhelming the 249 in favour.

The socialists rebelled against what they said was an egregious watering-down of the text by the conservative European People's Party (EPP), the parliament's biggest group of lawmakers.

The EPP had sought to dilute the proposals, notably by allowing sales of hybrid vehicles to continue, prompting the left to say the original text lacked the ambition needed to tackle climate change through carbon trading.