Eastern European Polluters revolt: Latvia joins Eastern Bloc revolt against EU CO2 caps
Latvia, on 31 July, joined Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Estonia in challenging the EU's emissions trading scheme, after the Commission ordered it to lower its proposed cap for industrial carbon dioxide emissions to 3.43 million tonnes annually, between 2008 and 2012, rather than the 6.25 million it had asked for.
The Eastern European countries are arguing that the strict limits imposed by the EU executive are too low and will hurt their economies at a time when they are still playing catch-up to the rest of the Union. ''We need the extra capacity,'' said Latvian Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis, announcing his government's decision to take the Commission to the European Court of Justice. But the Commission appeared undaunted. ''We are confident that our decisions that have been challenged will stand up in court,'' said environment spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich, insisting that the Commission had “applied the rules fairly” and had not ''discriminated in any way''.
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