„We will do everything to ensure that the provisions of the Fit for 55 package do not come into force. These are burdens beyond measure,” said Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin last Thursday on the TVP Info channel. He added that Poland needed time and money to implement the package, and EU assistance was a drop in the ocean of needs.
The „Fit for 55” package aligns EU policies with the EU’s commitment to reduce EU net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels and to ensure EU climate neutrality by 2050. Poland, which heavily relies on coal, is one of the few to oppose the adoption of the package, but there is little chance that Warsaw’s opposition will bring the expected effect.
„There is a chance that we would not introduce it,” the Deputy Prime Minister said. „Pressure always makes sense. Those who are leading the way in green solutions are changing their minds a little, an example of which was the ban on registering cars with internal combustion engines, which caused a stir,” he added.
He also said that Brussels required certain actions from Poland, but did not provide the support that Poland needed. „We are talking about financial support provided under European funds, NRP, which the Union refuses to pay us. The special climate fund, which is being created under the Fit for 55 program, is a drop in the ocean of needs for our transformation,” he stressed.
„We must do everything to ensure that these laws do not come into force and we will fight this fight. ( … ) These are burdens beyond measure. Imagine the new taxes in the form of emission charges for transport and construction. Every Polish family will have to pay for CO2 emissions, now the energy sector pays,” he explained. Sasin stated that in such a case, anyone who heats their home with coal or gas, drives an internal combustion car will have to pay very high fees for CO2 emissions in bills.
He pointed out that the cost for Poland of introducing the Fit for 55 package by 2030 is about PLN 2.5 trillion. „The PKO BP bank analysts calculated that, and that means about PLN 64 thousand per each Pole. Can we afford to bear such costs, to burden each of us with such an amount in the form of new taxes, the need to repair our home, the transformation of heat sources in homes. These are gigantic amounts, PLN 2.5 trillion is about four times the Polish budget,” Sasin estimated.
He said the government would have to raise money from other sources. „We have an idea how to do it. Time and money are factors that cannot be accelerated. We need to spread this process over a number of years so that it is tolerable for society. Without social acceptance, no revolution, including a one in energy, will succeed,” Sasin said.
Polish Press Agency / Jacek Perzyński