Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Romania, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Bulgaria, Austria and Croatia are urging the EU executive to reexamine the scheme by the end of May at the latest, arguing it harms their industries and is contributing to rising energy prices.
But not everyone agrees, with two EU officials from ETS-supporting countries saying the cap-and-trade system must remain in place. The first official argued it is not contributing to the energy crisis and is actually helping Europe’s economy, with its revenues needed for the green transition.
On the topic of energy, the Commission’s proposed gas price cap is also likely to be raised, though not all countries are likely to get on board with that either, according to a senior German government official. According to the draft conclusions, EU leaders will instruct the Commission to “present without delay a toolbox of targeted temporary measures” to bring down energy prices.
Competitiveness, anyone? EU vs. itself
Despite the crises crowding the agenda, leaders will still try to push forward plans to revive Europe’s economy, building on talks at a February summit at Alden Biesen in Belgium.
Most of the proposals fall under the “One Europe, One Market” push to deepen the single market — easing the movement of goods, services, capital and people across the bloc. The draft conclusions say leaders will back new corporate rules, dubbed “EU Inc.,” to help startups scale across borders, as well as a “simple, unified and voluntary e-declaration system” to make it easier to work across countries.
The aim is to move from talk to delivery, with concrete steps and deadlines, another EU diplomat said. But while there is broad agreement on the need for reform, divisions persist over whether EU energy and climate policies — particularly the Emissions Trading System — are holding back growth.
That split, with Central, Eastern and Southern European countries pushing for changes and others, including the Nordics, resisting, will likely be the main battleground on competitiveness.
Nick Vinocur contributed reporting.