EU summit: Vanhanen expects Finnish forest industry to be granted free emission rights

Finland set to benefit from Irish insistence on own Commissioner

Matti Vanhanen

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Ireland’s demand that it continue to have the right to have a member of its own on the European Commission succeeded on Friday.
     In return, Ireland has agreed to hold a new referendum on the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which Irish voters rejected in a previous plebiscite in June last year.
     The new referendum could be held next autumn, which means that the Lisbon Treaty, which sets a number of reforms for the European Union, would take effect by the end of this year.
     Ireland’s success means that other small member states, including Finland, will be allowed to keep a seat on the Commission after 2014, when a system of rotation was to have been initiated.
     
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) says that the move is quite acceptable for Finland, as Finland had wanted for each member state to be represented on the commission.
      At their Brussels summit, the EU leaders also agreed on Friday on a stimulus package worth EUR 200 billion to help weather the effects of the current economic crisis.
     
Debate on an extensive climate and energy package continued into the afternoon.
      The subject was the focus of much tension at the summit, and on Friday morning, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said that Hungary had tried to change the entire architecture of the proposed agreement.
     The new member states of Central and Eastern Europe have called for more lenient emission standards, as most of the electricity produced in those countries is generated by burning fossil fuels. In addition, the new EU countries emphasise that they do not have the money necessary for a rapid transition to cleaner and more modern technology.
     The demands have been met with a certain amount of sympathy on the part of the old member states. However, for instance Poland’s considerable additional demands are reportedly causing some tension.
     
Prime Minister Vanhanen said that this “solidarity question” is one of the most difficult matters for this meeting to deal with.
     A key issue for the old member states is agreeing on certain levels of free emission rights in order to prevent production from moving outside the EU.
     Finland has insisted that its forest industry be included among sectors entitled to emission quotas free of charge. Vanhanen assumed on Thursday afternoon, before the negotiations started, that Finland would achieve its goals, and that its energy-intensive industry will largely be brought into the realm of free emission rights.
     
However, the sectors to be included in the free emission rights programme will not be specified at the summit. The aim of the meeting is to agree on the criteria, under which the sectors will be selected at a later date.
     Plans are to take more than half of the EU’s industry within the realm of free emissions.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Pekkarinen: EU climate package progresses well for Finland (9.12.2008)

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