The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group has called for a fundamental rethink of the EU’s climate and energy policy following the European Council meeting of 19 March, warning that current measures are driving up costs and weakening Europe’s economic position.

Speaking during the Mini-Plenary session in Brussels, ECR Co-Chairman Patryk Jaki criticised the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) as a key driver of rising energy prices and declining competitiveness.

Jaki said:

“The ETS was supposed to make us richer — we are poorer.

It was supposed to make energy cheaper — we now have some of the most expensive energy in the world.

It was supposed to make us more competitive — we have lost competitiveness.”

Jaki pointed to the sharp increase in ETS costs and the corresponding rise in energy prices for both industry and households, arguing that policy-driven cost pressures are undermining Europe’s industrial base.

Jaki said:

“When the ETS was introduced, the cost of allowances stood at around €15 per tonne.

Today, it is €67 per tonne. This is an increase of roughly 250%.

We were told this would lead to an energy transition and lower prices.

Well — did it?”

“When the ETS was introduced, the average price of electricity for households was €0.12–0.13 per kilowatt hour. Today, it is €0.28–0.29/kWh — again, more than double.

“When the ETS was introduced, the European Union was an economic powerhouse, with per capita income and growth comparable to the United States.

Today, income per person in the US — which rejected this radical green approach — is twice as high as in Europe.”

The ECR Co-Chairman further underlined that Europe’s global economic standing has deteriorated, with declining competitiveness and a reduced share of global GDP, while other economies pursue different policy approaches.

Jaki said:

“The ETS was supposed to reduce global CO₂ emissions by setting an example.

Instead, global emissions have increased because others did not follow our lead. They are taking advantage of our naïveté, taking over our industries, producing more, and emitting more.”

He called on the European Commission and Member States to draw the necessary conclusions and to move towards a more realistic and growth-oriented energy policy framework.

Jaki concluded, saying:

“Europe deserves a new beginning. Europe deserves a free energy market, one without ideological taxes and that can once again become the most competitive in the world.”

ENDS

Jaki’s full speech reads:

ETS must go!

Now listen carefully to what this ideological tax has actually done.

When the ETS was introduced, the cost of allowances stood at around €15 per tonne.

Today, it is €67 per tonne — an increase of roughly 250%.

We were told this would lead to an energy transition and lower prices.

Well — did it?

When the ETS was introduced, the average wholesale price of electricity in Europe was €30–40 per megawatt hour.

Today, it is around €85/MWh — more than double.

When the ETS was introduced, the average price of electricity for households was €0.12–0.13 per kilowatt hour.

Today, it is €0.28–0.29/kWh — again, more than double.

So I ask you:

Has the ETS delivered cheap energy, as you promised — or much more expensive energy?

When the ETS was introduced, the European Union was an economic powerhouse, with per capita income and growth comparable to the United States.

Today, income per person in the US — which rejected this radical green approach — is twice as high as in Europe.

When the ETS was introduced, the EU accounted for around 20% of global GDP and had a seat at every major decision-making table.

Today, it is a shadow of that former strength.

The ETS was supposed to make us richer — we are poorer.

It was supposed to make energy cheaper — we now have some of the most expensive energy in the world.

It was supposed to make us more competitive — we have lost competitiveness.

The ETS was supposed to reduce global CO₂ emissions by setting an example.

Instead, global emissions have increased — because others did not follow our lead. They are taking advantage of our naïveté, taking over our industries, producing more, and emitting more.

That is why the ETS has crippled European industry.

Let us call things by their name:

The ETS — and this entire green agenda — is already dead.

You are simply refusing to admit it, trying to dress up a corpse and send it to the ball.

But this is a zombie ball.

Europe deserves a new beginning.

Europe deserves a free energy market — one without ideological taxes — that can once again become the most competitive in the world.

We once defeated red ideology.

Now it is time to do the same with green ideology.