Greens seek CO2 penalty mechanism

Europe needs a second Stability and Growth Pact to make governments meet their climate change targets, Green MEPs said today (9 November).

A ‘stability-pact strategy’ adopted by the European Green Party says member states will not cut emissions of greenhouse gas without the threat of penalties.

The Greens propose combining carbon dioxide (CO2) monitoring rules "with a penalty mechanism similar to that for the existing Stability and Growth Pact".

The stability pact was set up to enforce budgetary discipline in countries using the euro. Notably, it commits governments to making sure their annual budget deficit does not exceed 3% of gross domestic product (GDP).

The Greens suggest an equivalent climate change pact under which governments not meeting their commitments to reduce CO2 emissions would have to put part of their GDP into a reserve fund, while being denied access to EU money, such as the structural funds and the seventh framework programme for research (FP7).

If the emissions targets were still not met, the reserve money could go to a ‘EU climate and innovation fund’ for emission-reduction projects.

Claude Turmes, the Luxembourg MEP responsible for the strategy, is hoping a climate change pact would be applied more strictly than the euro stability pact. Member states failed to impose sanctions envisaged by the euro pact on countries, including France and Germany, breaking the 3% rule.

"At this stage we want to stimulate debate and this is one of the good ideas that have come up," said Turmes. "If anyone has a better idea we would also want to discuss it."

Kendra Okonski of the International Policy Network, a think-tank, said a new Stability and Growth Pact was unlikely to work. "The EU has invested so much in the Kyoto Protocol and it is already obviously too costly - imposing additional costs is not going to help. Emission reductions are more likely to happen through partnerships with business than by again using the heavy hand of government," she said.

Europe needs a second Stability and Growth Pact to make governments meet their climate change targets, Green MEPs said today (9 November).