As the European Parliament debated the EU’s Fit for 55 package this week, Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly has warned that the transition to using cleaner energies will be “costly”.
Fit for 55 refers to the at least 55% emission reduction target which the EU has set for 2030. The proposed package aims to bring the EU’s climate and energy legislation in line with the 2030 goal.
The European Commission presented the package in July.
Fair and just transition
Speaking to EuroParlRadio, Kelly, the MEP for Ireland South, said that the “solutions are there, new technologies are emerging, but it’s going to be costly”.
“So, if you have a diesel car now or a petrol car, over a period of time those cars are going to be phased out and replaced by electric cars,” the MEP continued.
“The same applies to buildings, an awful lot of them – 75% of them – aren’t energy efficient, so there has to be a fair and just transition.
“Renewable energy – we’ll have to grasp the opportunities, particularly offshore wind, it’s a big one for us, but we need to make sure that it’s easy for businesses.”
Kelly added that people will have to be given access to training programmes to upskill as part of achieving the climate targets.
‘People are worried’
Meanwhile, Green Party MEP Ciarán Cuffe said that while the meeting of targets is necessary, there will be those who will be negatively impacted – and they must be protected.
“People are worried and you’re seeing that debate. The price of energy is rising and we have to ensure that any changes we make are fair,” he said.
“And that means protecting those on lower incomes from rapid increases in the cost of fuel.
“We need to make sure that people in coal-producing regions or, in the case of Ireland, in the midlands who are dependent on turf, we need to provide retraining, new jobs and compensation for those who lose out.”
The MEP also warned that the proposals in the Fit for 55 package will face strong opposition.
“There’s a lot of money at stake here. Some industries will benefit, some will lose out and I think conservative forces will be at play,” Cuffe continued.
“The lobbyists will be hard at work and I think they will succeed in watering down the package. That’s not good because we have to listen to the science – and the science tells us we have to move fast.”
Fit for 55
In his speech yesterday, Frans Timmermans, executive vice president for the European Green Deal said that “whatever measure you take, all these measures have a price effect”.
“The art of politics will be to ensure that the price effect does not affect the most vulnerable and that we use the age-old political instrument of redistribution to make sure that the burden is evenly spread in society,” he said.
“And that people can see clearly, beyond any doubt, that we have taken measures that will assure an equal burden sharing across society.”