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LAST UPDATE | 24 Jun 2022
Lauren Boland reports from the European Parliament in Brussels
SIGNIFICANT WORK STILL remains for the EU’s emissions targets as progress moves forward on its cornerstone climate package.
Several chunks of Fit for 55, the EU’s plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions, did not pass through the Parliament earlier this month when MEPs were divided on whether a specific reform went far enough to be valuable.
Voting on the emissions trading system, which puts a cap on the amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted by factories, power plants and aviation, took an unexpected turn as Left MEPs decided they could not vote in favour of reform they described as having been watered-down from its original ambition.
After returning the legislation to the EU’s environment committee, MEPs voted in favour this week of a version that slightly upped the target, putting through a measure that some view as still not yet reaching its full potential but which allows the momentum on climate action to continue.
Speaking to The Journal, Green MEP Ciarán Cuffe described it as “progress” but added it is “nowhere near what we need”.
439 MEPs voted in favour of the revised ETS, with 157 against and 32 abstentions.
Most of the votes against the proposal were from right and far-right politicians in the European Conservatives and Reformists group and the Identity and Democracy group, but some Left MEPs remained opposed, including Ireland’s Clare Daly and Mick Wallace.
Sinn Féin’s Chris MacManus abstained, while the other 10 Irish MEPs voted in favour.
Within the emissions trading system’s cap, which decreases each year, companies can buy and trade emission ‘allowances’.
How far the EU will reduce those emissions has been the source of contention, with a proposed target moving from 67% to 61% and now being agreed upon at 63%.
The Parliament also approved a new trading system for buildings and road transport with citizens excluded until 2029.
Cuffe said that although the final agreement was an improvement on the version that was voted down earlier this month, the EU still needs to go further to play its part in fighting the global climate crisis.
“As my colleague Bas Eickhout, the Green-EFA MEP from the Netherlands, said, this may be Fit for 55 but it’s not fit for 1.5,” Cuffe said, referencing the important goal set out by the Paris agreement of trying to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“What he meant by that is, yes, it’s in line with what the European Commission promised us a year ago, but it won’t necessarily keep our emissions down to a 1.5 degree maximum of warming,” he said.
“That is a real concern. We said when the European Climate Law was being passed a year ago we actually need to ramp down 65% by 2030, not 55%.
It’s not as far as we want to go. In Ireland, we have the Irish Climate Law which promises a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030, so both at an Irish level and at a European level, we need to be quite ambitious.
“Hindsight’s a wonderful thing but when we were in government 11 years ago, we were talking about 3% annual reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Had we approved legislation then, it would be a less onerous task.”
The resistance from the Greens to the initial ETS vote caught the ire of centrist parties like the European People’s Party (where Fine Gael sits) and Renew Europe (Fianna Fáil), who argued that it unnecessarily held up progress on the package.
Speaking to The Journal, EPP MEP Deirdre Clune said the grouping “wanted to give breathing space to industry”.
“We weren’t going to cut the targets or interfere with the targets to 2030 but what we wanted to do was make sure where we are now, in a period of certainty regarding supply chain issues for industry, energy costs, all of those insecurities, we wanted to give them space,” Clune said.
“It won’t ramp up so quickly now but at the same time it will get there to the reductions that are required,” she said.
She said the EPP’s position was criticised by the right for going ‘too far’ and by the left for not going ‘far enough’.
“Two weeks ago, we were told as an EPP group that we were turning our back on the Paris climate agreement.
We weren’t. We were committed to the target but we had a different approach.
“Now the vote that was accepted, actually, I don’t see much difference. There’s a year here, the curve has been increased slightly, but at the same time, it’s the same principles.
On whether the system – which, along with the rest of the Fit for 55 package, has been in train for many months – can now stand up amid the chaos caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine, Clune said: “I think it is fit for purpose. I think what we’ve done we’ve given that breathing space for the next few years because we are in a crisis.”
“We’re not just talking about Irish industry here, we’re talking about European industries, you’re talking about steel, aluminium production, heavy industries.
“They provide jobs, services, and valuable products that we all depend on. What we have is a balance at the beginning but we are going to get to the 2030 targets and 2050 targets if these measures are implemented.”
With some measures under the Fit for 55 package now passed through Parliament, others remain to be progressed as committees work through legislation.
Areas such as energy, fuels, forestry, land use, aviation and transport have been targeted under the package, including a directive on buildings’ energy performance aimed at reducing emissions from buildings and improving their energy efficiency.
Cuffe, the rapporteur on the directive, outlined that a key target is to get every building in Europe to an A-energy rating by 2050, but that first member states will need to come on board with performance standards.
“We want to ensure that every EU member state has minimum energy performance standards and that there will be requirements to move gradually up that scale as the years go by, not only in property that is owned but in rental property as well,” he said.
“We’re also creating a new category of A plus building that creates more energy than it consumes.
“Buildings consume 40% of Europe’s energy and are responsible for 36% of greenhouse gas emissions, so anything we do to improve the energy performance of buildings will really make a difference to meeting our climate targets.”
On energy, the EU has moved today to remain in the Energy Charter Treaty after multiple rounds of talks despite a loud call from Spain and some activists to exit the treaty over a lax approach to fossil fuel companies.
A provisional deal on the treaty will allow the EU and UK a loophole to avoid needing to pay out companies for losses incurred by climate measures, but only applies to current investments in ten years’ time.
There was some political pressure on the issue in Ireland with Green TD Patrick Costello raising it in the Dáil yesterday, while Sinn Féin Senator Lynn Boylan called on Minister for Climate Eamon Ryan to follow Spain by demanding the EU leave the treaty.
Boylan said the treaty’s protections for investors were making the transition to renewable energy “much more expensive because, on top of shifting our society and our economy away from fossil fuels, citizens – through their governments – will also have to compensate fossil fuel investors to stop damaging the climate”.
“The Energy Charter Treaty is a relic of a fossil fuel past. It is time to face up to the reality that the ECT is beyond reform,” the senator said.
Asked his stance in Brussels this afternoon, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that he would need to follow through on it.
“Basically, we’re committed to the renewable agenda,” he said.
“I think private industry is well aware and has got plenty of notice in terms of direction of travel, moving from fossil fuels to renewables,” he said.
“If Europe wants to reduce its dependency on Russian gas and oil over the next number of years, ultimately the only way to do it is renewables.”
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Seriously? Only the other day we had the summit in Paris about climate change. I think we should be encouraged to take public transport instead of driving. If anything the increased fairs will make people want to use their car! The Irish government are just trying to get money anywhere possible!
If you use the bus regularly, you will always use a leap card. If you don’t, you want to be able to take the bus without paying over the odds. If anything, they are pushing the price to the point where clicking hailo for 4 people is a no brainer compared to the bus. Have leap prices come down, or is this action just to fleece non regular users?
leap fares are up I think.
Leap card fares haven’t changed against this year just cash fares have gone up.
*again
How do we encourage more people to use public transport? Put the fares up annually! Very interesting logic. I wonder has anyone in our public transport companies (Inc ministers) ever worked in the commercial world.
Pretty sure they’ve done it more than once annually for the last few years
Fares go up… Levels of service go down…. Number of strike days going up…. f*ck the customers seem to be the theme here
Traffic congestion is probably close to an all time high in Dublin and it seems a good idea to increase the cost of public transport? Interesting. Also, I wonder if all school kids or more importantly their parents know their fare went up this morning?
So John do you agree with increasing the price of Taxi fares as well? Anytime the Bus and Rail fares go up people seem to think it’s a good idea but as soon as it’s even muted taxi fares may increase its a national scandal…
Chip on someone’s shoulder
Where did I express my opinion that these price hikes were a good idea? I’m wondering why in the current state of traffic congestion in Dublin in particular that it would seem a good idea in increase fare prices. I would have thought lower prices of public transport fares would be used to incentivise people to use it rather than drive.
To be honest, actual investment in the public transport infrastructure would be even more powerful. However all this government will manage to deliver in Dublin is a modest tram-line extension, having binned projects 20 years in planning (Metro North, DART Underground) that would’ve made a *real* difference.
People interested in having actual public transport in the city should bring that up again and again to their representatives and don’t let them fob you off with their “New Metro North” spin or low-cost “technical solution” for DART Underground or any other of their crayon scribblings. They don’t intend to build anything.
Well said John. …common sense really. …something very lacking in our “leaders” and transport planners
Leap prices haven’t changed on bus.. €5.40 on 2x €2.70 fares 5 days a week. 5x€5.40=€27….. For extra 50c you get unlimited travel 1st bus monday to last bus sunday.. €8.30 for kids.. So prices are quite cheap considering. Then if your paying cash your getting fleeced..
‘The fare changes have been introduced to encourage more people to use Leap cards…’
Me arse.
While I don’t think *any* of the price increases are justified, the fact is the Leap Fare is still cheaper than what you would’ve coughed up for a cash ticket when the scheme was introduced.
Amazing how people downvote basic facts here!
Cash fares go up!!
Leap card for adults stays the same!!
That’s the plan get rid of cash fares!!
Cash up 5%
Leap up 4%
Yeah that one percent will obviously cause a leap stampede.
Setanta, I think you might have misread the article – it says Luas fares are going up by 4%, not Leap.
Leap cards are terrible. They have to be physically topped up. You can’t top them up online. You have to take them to a shop or kiosk.
And they don’t count transfers. So if you have to take 2 buses you pay twice as opposed to using cash where you get a transfer and don’t pay for the second leg of your trip. I need two buses to get to work so Leap cards are more expensive for me.
Rather than use leap it’s the same price almost for me to pay €8 to park in town. That’s my easiest option now especially as after the work the bus is either late or doesn’t show up at all.
The leap card is a pain! You can top it up online, you just have to activate it at a kiosk (shop or train) which is a pain. Apparently you can ask the bus driver to do a reduced rate for smaller journeys, which is also a pain! Where’s this €8 parking of which you speak?
Oh yea the leap cards are so inconvenient, if I don’t top up using my phone I have to go into the shop beside the bus stop and do it..
And what’s worse is that even if you have no credit on your leap card you can use up to €5 until your next top up… shock horror!!
Try finding a shop open st 6am, Ted. Unless you count garages, which you shouldn’t if you’re not a motorist.
Awh come on! There’s online top-up and you can spend up to minus €5 which will cover you for any city journey…
And now a lot of shops in cork have stopped doing the top up system…
what gets me is there\s a €5 deposit on the card, and if you want to use automatic top up, the minimum balance you can keep is €10, so that’s a total of €15 of your money they get to keep that you basically can never get back (trust me, i’ve tried). it’s just resting in someone’s account, i’m sure…
@Dan. It’s in Cork.
@Veronica Exactly! I know know of a few places that do it. The Spar between by work and the bus stop have gotten rid of it.
@Ted If you “Top up” using your phone the credit doesn’t enter you card automatically. You still have to bring tit to a kiosk or a shop to download the credit into your card.
And then there’s the times the driver ‘accidentally’ taps it twice, double charges you and sets the cap to 40 euro.
Just like heating costs.smokeless coal is €3 dearer than ordinary coal,yet they want us to switch to it.common sense does not exist in this government.
On my way to work driving a bus today till 7pm. This is going to be fun… fare rises are counterproductive but remember not to blame the driver. Most would lower fares of they could. This is to ‘incentivise’ people to use the leap card (needs a complete overhaul) so that they can raise the fares by what they (NTA) like & there won’t be anything you can do about it.
Pay more for a poorer service…shut up and take my money!!
Looks like the government will have to increase the VRT, fuel taxes and motor tax and close off more city streets to force people into public transport
Loving this economical recovery
It’s not fare.
Are they having a laugh?? +4/5% for what? The other day it took me 2 HOURS from Artane to City Centre!!! And wifi kept also crashing. Well done Dublin Bus!
At least it was only the Wi Fi that crashed Dario… (“,)
Second part of your moan is truly a First World problem.
I’d question the first part as well.
I don’t meant to rude but how was it Dublin buses fault it took two hours?
If it took 2hrs to get from Artane to the city how is it DB fault?
Ah here moaning about something free. Pay for your own wifi if you can’t cope without the internet. 2 hours from Artane to town is shambolic but you are not too far from town that you couldn’t walk in. Would only take 40-50 mins from Artane
Well considering how much they wasted on that WiFi rather then improving the basic service, I want a bus that I can rely on, not a bus with WiFi that’s never on time.
Oil prices are down around 60% this year yet fares still go up…right
Public transport companies need to be told they have a budget and that’s the end of it.
I wonder what will happen when we no longer take cash for fares, when we no longer take tickets for journeys. It is afterall the plan that is in place by the government and transport to completely replace all methods of payment with one which is the leap card.
Year on year for at least the last decade, the cash and ticket prices have increased while leap fares have either been reduced or left alone or had minimal increases. One can only assume that when its leap fares only there will be an exponential increase in the price to compensate for the loss of income?
There is no loss of income… The reduced costs compensate.
The driver selling tickets adds time to the journey, big mechanical ticket issuing machine that has to be installed and maintained vs. a small electric pad. That cash has to be physically collected, counted, stored securely, collected by armored van or taken to a bank, insurance is higher, there’s loss to theft or underpaid fares, an admin office to deal with refunds/overpayment…
Taking cash is hugely inefficient and expensive.
Works just fine in London with only Oyster or contactless payments on buses tbh.
London have a great system with their oyster and contactless, and I’m pretty sure the busses have a flat fare of £2.30 no matter if your travel within Central or go from central right out as far as the bus goes. Not to mention this way of paying for the bus allows for people to get on a lot faster
They want to encourage people to use leapcard system… Get this bus Eireann if I’m traveling to west cork there is no leapcard system yet i pay above & beyond for 1.5 hour bus journey.. It’s cheaper for me to go to Dublin which is 3 hrs away… Makes no sense… So looks like ill be paying an even €30.00 to see my family for Christmas…
Nonsensical gov. No credible reason given why fares gone up. Same yesterday with the restaurant water, o’donoghue is against restaurants charging for water but is for Water rates/taxes going up. Ridiculous stuff.
Unless Dublin Bus have changed their minds since positing the information on their website:
“There are no changes to adult Leap Card fares, Dublin Bus adult monthly and annual tickets, child cash and Leap Card fares or city centre cash and Leap Card fares”.
The Indo says:
“School children who use a Leap card on Dublin Bus, will pay 2c extra for journeys, while minors paying by cash, must pay an additional 5c.”
I would pay extra for Junkie free carriages on the red line. ” Story bud, ye wouldn’t have 2€ for a hostel?”
The Leap card is certainly better than what went before it – nothing.
But it’s still a terrible system that fleeces customers.
Due to operational failure the train….due to a points failure at howth junction…due to adverse weather conditions (slight drizzle)…always delays
We pay for that? Or we pay for salary increases?
Fares go up because so many travel for free. I have no problem with pensioners getting passes they deserve it and quite a lot of those with medical conditions. The real problem is the govt and media then comparing the companies (luas aside) to normal companies who shouldn’t be loss making. Yes they should try break even but they are public services not regular companies. I have no problem with the short hops increasing a bit. Will only affect those too lazy to walk as anyone unable to walk that far probably had a pass anyway
The reason for the rise is the same as ever… The cost of providing the service rises yearly by a small percentage amount with inflation.
The cost of commuting by car rises comparatively year on year as well, people just don’t notice because they pay for the individual components themselves, they don’t all rise in tandem and you don’t pay for them on a daily fixed price basis.
That is unless greater efficiencies or utilization can be achieved and in a piss poor managed semi state monopoly with a protective Union. That ain’t likely.
Compare them to the airlines, where ticket prices have in real terms fallen over the last 2-3 decades. Quite frankly, be happy to pay the higher cost or privatize and introduce competition.
They need to cap the budget increases (which to be fare NTA *are* doing).
Hiow difficult would it be to have a log on / log off system across Bus / Luas / Rail / DART using GPS to allow me to get on the DART in Howth; log off on Pearse Street, and then log on the bus at Peasrse Street where the machine recognises that I am continuing a journey and calculates the pricei of 1 fare, rather than the 2 fares it currently does.
It works in Amsterdam, and while their system is not perfect, at least you are not being charged double for 1 journey.
The public transport system is loss making organization, and it being given money by the state to keep it going on several occasions , its members are looking for more money as seen recently, so increasing the fares is no surprise.
In simple terms one would have thought that with our economy improving by the day and more people with jobs in all main city’s that they”d be making more profits, or it it as good as they proclaim!
If trying to encourage Leap card use why not just reduce Leap card fares????
Compared to cities of a similar size Dublins disjointed and expensive transport system is not fit for purpose. It’s seems to be mainly run for the staff rather than the travelling public. No real night service and an undignified scrum to catch the last one at 1130. There is no real incentive to leave the car at home either. Get the Chinese in to do an under ground system. It will be done on time and budget and will put our useless so called leaders to shame with their lack of ability to understand urban planning or transport systems
The Chinese: A great bunch of lads!
Hurrah!!!! Thanks FG/Lab
My sympathies to anyone who has to depend on public transport…
If you can, cycle to work. It’s the only answer.
My bus went up 30 cent today. With all the price increases over the past few years my bus ticket has almost doubled. It now costs almost 8 euro for a return ticket and im about 15/20 mins from the city centre. It they want to encourage us to use leap cards then give meaningful discounts rather than increasing the price.
The cost of bring the protesters on free travel passes into town to protest and disrupt businesses must add to CIE and Rail costs. Free passes for these people should be restricted to their local area.
Itsa “DONE DEAL”. you voted them in …. .. Q & A. till the cow jumped over the moon… kids
We need to get Ryanair/michael o’ leary to run the public transport system, im sure he will run it effeciciently!
We could reduce fares if we made Dublin bus part of the ambulance service, considering wages are the largest expense at Dublin bus and we pay bus drivers more then paramedics.
What a joke, what about the ones that yet again can only afford to travel places once a month to see there family.? Not think it’s abit on fare to those on € 100 no.? How about increasing the payment to half of what ye have rised.? Yer all for yer on pocket and saddest thing of all is nothing is coming back to ye only making ye richer, the government and leaders of today would want a good look in the mirror because there no different without there money then me and you. From what i’v heard and seen the old ways were the best days BRING BACK THE OLD LEADERS AND GOVERNMENT AND GET RID OF THE NEW THERE “USELESS”
have your say