EC President presents pollution targets for 2013-2020

In the 2013-2020 period the European Union wants to register a general drop of 20 per cent in pollution quotas, compared to the latter's level in 1990, the European Commission's 'Energy and Climate Change' project informs. The project has been presented by EC President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday in the European Parliament in Brussels.

The project tries to take into consideration each member state's local characteristics, economic development characteristics and reduction capacity, however the quotas that will be allocated for each country are unknown for the time being. The project, initially discussed within the Commission College, provisions that the states with a lower GDP per capita level and with larger economic growth expectations will increase the level of polluting emissions compared to 2005. Romania is one of those countries, and according to European sources, it will obtain the supplementation of its quota.

Large polluters such as Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Poland are at the opposite end, and they will have to make extra efforts to respect the mentioned objective. Renewable energy, solar energy, wind energy or geothermal energy will have to register a share of 20 per cent in energy production in 2020, up from their current share of only 8.5 per cent in European energy production.

The production of biofuels, a controversial subject nowadays, should reach a share of 10 per cent. Moreover, France wanted to include nuclear energy in that list, arguing that it does not produce carbon dioxide, however Brussels turned down the proposal.

The Romanian MEP Daciana Sarbu (PSE, PSD) estimated that the new energy and environment package proposed by the European Commission is favourable for Romania, the measures proposed by the community Executive bringing at the same time an appropriate European answer to the challenge represented by the climate changes and the energy dependence.

Nine O'Clock