WRITTEN QUESTION E-0499/02

by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(22 February 2002)

Subject: The volume of investment required by the Kyoto Protocol

On Wednesday, 23 January 2002, the Environment Committee tabled the following question to the Commission: What information does the Commission have concerning which investments are planned within the European Union countries and also accession countries between now and 2010 to enable them to meet their Kyoto commitments? The reply which the committee received made it clear that the Commission did not know anything about the matter.

Has the Commission received any information about it from the Member States since then? Does the Commission consider it necessary to make inquiries about the issue?

Would it be desirable to carry out a survey of the climate for investment by businesses and their investment plans in the light of the Kyoto commitments, using uniform questionnaires in the EU and the candidate countries, in order to ascertain how and in accordance with what timetable the Community's obligations are being complied with by businesses?

Is it necessary to publish the data thus gathered and the Commission's assessments of the cost implications of the Kyoto commitments in the EU and candidate countries? Is such information needed, for example, as a basis for taking decisions on important legislative instruments relating to climate change?

Does the Commission consider it necessary to coordinate Member States' actions in order to create a positive atmosphere, inter alia by means of joint declarations and other measures, which will give businesses the confidence to make long-term investments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(12 April 2002)

In its reply to an Oral Question in the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy in January 2002, the Commission explained that it has general information about policies and measures planned or implemented by Member States rather than specific information about private sector investments.

Fulfillment of the burden sharing targets is entirely the responsibility of the Member States. The Commission assists Member States by proposing common measures to be implemented across the Community. It does not possess company-specific information about investment plans as it is not given a mandate to do so. It does not collect such company-level information for any other Community policy.

The most up-to-date information is contained in the latest report produced in the context of the greenhouse gas monitoring mechanism(1) and has been forwarded to the Parliament on 22 November 2001.

The Commission does not consider it necessary to make inquiries and requests beyond the current obligations Member States have to fulfill under the monitoring mechanism Decision(2).

The monitoring mechanism and information furnished by Member States in this context allows the Commission to continuously monitor the progress of Member States towards the Community Kyoto commitment. Once candidate countries are members of the Union the same reporting obligations will apply to them. The Commission does not consider it desirable to survey the climate for business investment and actual investment plans. Investment plans are commercially sensitive information for companies. Furthermore, at this stage the Kyoto commitments do not apply directly to businesses but rather to Member States and it is for each Member State to ascertain how business and other sectors comply with the obligations arising from the Kyoto Protocol.

In line with the negative response to surveying businesses the Commission has nothing to add on the question about publication of any collected data.

As far as costs are concerned in contrast to investments the Commission has undertaken several studies to estimate costs for complying with the Kyoto commitments. The most comprehensive one is the study titled Economic Evaluation of Sectoral Emission Reduction Objectives for Climate Change. The study is available on the Directorate General Environment climate web-site(3).

The major conclusions of the study are:

- under a least-cost approach, some sectors would need to reduce their emissions more than others, but the Union's total compliance costs could be as low as 3,7 billion per annum, being 0,06 % of the Union's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010;

- the Union would reach the Kyoto target if it implemented greenhouse gas reduction measures that cost less than 20 per tonne of carbondioxide (CO2) equivalent.

The Commission is interested in creating and maintaining a predictable environment for long-term investments to reduce greenhouse gases. In this regard it has actively supported the Union's stance to pursue the path of multilateral policies to combat climate change after the withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol announced by US President Bush in March 2001. It welcomes also the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the Council as decided on 4 March 2002. The speedy decision on some Commission proposals by Council and Parliament does play an important role in meeting the EU's commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. In particular, the adoption of a proposal for an Union-wide greenhouse gas emission trading scheme will send an important signal and boost business confidence to invest in greenhouse gas reductions. The environment for business investments is further

improved for example with the already adopted Directive(4) on electricity from renewable energy sources and the proposed Directive(5) on energy efficiency in buildings.

(1) Report under Council Decision 93/389/EEC as amended by Decision 1999/296/EC for a monitoring mechanism of Community greenhouse gas emissions, COM(2001) 708 final.

(2) Council Decision 1999/296/EC of 26 April 1999 amending Decision 93/389/EEC for a monitoring mechanism of Community CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, OJ L 117, 5.5.1999.

(3) http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/enveco/climate_change/sectoral_objectives.htm.

(4) Directive 2001/77/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market.

(5) Directive proposal on the energy performance of buildings, OJ C 213 E, 31.7.2001.