The Czech Republic has declared its solidarity with Poland in challenging the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). Poland’s Parliament recently passed a resolution urging the suspension and reform of the EU ETS, a stance that has found support from the Czech government.
Czech Energy Minister Karel Havlíček, speaking on Czech Television, expressed his backing for Poland’s position, stating, “The market is unbearable… I would support them (Poland), I would escalate it (the discussion), so at the end, the solution could be a return of 400 million allowances to the ETS market.”
Poland has cautioned that it may consider withdrawing from the EU ETS if the trading system is not reformed. The country argues that the market is vulnerable to speculative manipulations, leading to skyrocketing prices of allowances that were unforeseen by European institutions. Konrad Szymański, Poland’s Minister for European Affairs, emphasized this concern, stating, “The market is simply defenseless against speculative manipulations. It is the main reason why today it is stunning its participants with prodigiously high prices of allowances, which any of the European institutions have not predicted.”
While Czechia shares the criticism of the current state of the EU ETS, it has no intention of withdrawing from the system. The Czech Republic acknowledges the need for reforms but remains committed to actively engaging within the ETS framework.
