The Czech government will ask for a delay in the implementation of the emissions trading system ETS 2, which is designed to expand emissions trading to road transport and local heating.

“We have to make ecological goals more realistic so they do not have a negative impact on the whole economy,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said at a press conference on December 16.

Fiala said that “we will be convincing our colleagues in the EU to join our proposal to delay the implementation of the ETS 2 system to the year 2028” and that “in the meantime, we want to introduce stronger protection against the sharp growth of energy prices”.

He added that “we could imagine even longer delay, for instance, until the energy prices in Europe are really competitive, but we are realists and are trying to find the widest possible consensus”.

The country is also opposing the European Commission’s proposal to lower emissions in 2040 by 90% compared to 1990 and wants to revise EU goals on phasing out combustion engines in the car industry, the Czech Press Agency (ČTK) noted.

Czechia has very energy-intensive industrial sector, with a focus on car manufacturing. It is also facing a protracted and painful transformation of its energy sector, in which it is prioritising large nuclear investments to replace its coal-fired power plants, rather than renewables.  

In a separate development, the Czech parliament, where Fiala’s centre-right coalition has a majority of 104, approved changes in the rules for state aid to solar power plants, which lowers aid for renewables.  

The move was slammed by the solar industry, which threatened action, as well as by the Czech Union of Industry. The bill needs to be approved by the Senate and signed by the president before being turned into law.

“The measures are changing the rules in the middle of the game and can threaten some of the new investments into renewable sources, which the Czech Republic urgently needs also to meet EU climate goals,” Bohuslav Čížek, head of the economic policy section at the Union of Industry was quoted as saying by ČTK.