20
May
2026
Watch
Reviewing the ETS system to support European competitiveness (topical debate)
Madam President, what is even happening here? Every day since the start of the war in Iran, Europe has been paying an extra half a billion euros for fossil fuels. Every day. For nothing. That's EUR 3.5 billion this week alone to the fossil fuel industry. For nothing. They're robbing us. Without the emissions trading scheme, we would have been in a much worse situation. Reports show that without the ETS, we would be rationing fuels to European citizens by now. We would be much more dependent on the fossil industry, which is now robbing us. ETS is not the cause of the high energy prices; it is the way out of them. What we need to do is not more of this nonsense – criticising the ETS – we need a plan to phase out fossil fuels. We need to stop subsidising them. Stop supporting the industry that is now holding a gun to our head, robbing us. We need to stop calling for the suspension of the ETS. It applies in this House, but also to the various nervous governments around Europe right now. To Austria, to Italy, to Germany. Enough is enough. Stop questioning the best climate tool, the best anti‑fossil tool that we have. I have had enough of it. You want to stop this? I say, I want to stop you. Stop questioning the way out of this dangerous addiction. Stop holding the fossil industries back, because they are robbing the citizens of Europe right now.