Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 6 March 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

EU Finances Post-2020: European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources

3:15 pm

Mr. Günther Oettinger:

The whole system is an existing one. We agreed, and via Paris we are obliged, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 2020, 2030 and 2050. It is a clear system. The volume of emissions and the number of licences is limited, being reduced year by year by 3% to 4% to reach the goal. Industries, steel users or coal to power plants have to pay licences. This is the European market but the money is not going to the budget. One only has to get agreement with member states to get this money to reduce the money we need from national budgets.