Industry news archive
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Almost no one liked the EU carbon tax project
Last week, the European Commission published a draft cross-border carbon regulation. The EU is raising its environmental standards, striving to become a climate neutral region by the middle of the century, and seriously reducing CO2 emissions. Against this background, the Union authorities do not want this to cause the industry to move to other countries, where the emission requirements are weaker. If this happens, then the emission of harmful gases on a global scale will not decrease, the EC noted earlier.
In particular, the EC proposed to gradually introduce a tax on imports of certain goods in the EU by 2026, the production of which required high CO2 emissions. Among the goods that may initially be affected by the new collection are cement, fertilizers, steel.
“The overwhelming majority of countries are either negative about this venture, or pessimistic. We did not meet open support. Therefore, there may be a chance here to try to agree on the rules of the game. In one region taken, even one as large and powerful as the EU, you can proclaim a climate agenda. But the climate problem cannot be solved, since it is global, and all countries should participate in this, ”said Maxim Medvedkov, head of the HSE Trade Policy Department, ex-director of the Trade Negotiations Department of the Ministry of Economic Development.
The EU has not fully thought out its idea
The opinion of the expert international community agrees that the proposed regulation has systemic problems and inconsistencies with the WTO provisions. “But, of course, it takes time to clarify the scope of these problems and understand to what extent the colleagues from the European Commission are ready to work with them, to eliminate them,” the expert added.
Speaking about the fact that Russia can oppose the EU, he recalled the procedure for resolving disputes in the WTO. “If the government decides that this procedure should be activated, such disputes may occur. But this decision of the government and, probably, other countries think in the same vein. But it is too early to say how successful such an action would be, ”explained Medvedkov.
“There are many countries that do not sell goods to the EU that are subject to the new regulation. However, they have a systemic problem with the violation by the EU of the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, which is laid down in the Paris Agreement, with the imposition of certain instruments of environmental policy, and these countries also do not agree with this. So the issue of uniting opponents does not depend only on commercial interests, ”he explained.
