"I would not like us to be stuck in the belief that everything in Poland would be perfect if it were not for the European Union with its climate and energy policy," Janusz Steinhoff, former deputy prime minister and minister of economy, noted.

As he emphasized, the emission charges from the ETS system, which has become the subject of fierce criticism from politicians in recent months, are sent not to Brussels, but to the member states. Only last year, the Polish budget received about PLN 25 billion on this account.

"In Poland, there are often such populist signals that it would be good if the European Union would not exist if there was no ETS if we did not pay for CO2 emissions. I would like to remind you that the funds from the fees for carbon dioxide emissions constitute the income of the Polish government. It is the government that has these funds and should allocate them not to social transfers, but to support transformations in the Polish power industry," Janusz Steinhoff emphasized.

The ETS emissions trading system is a key element of the EU's policy to combat climate change and an essential tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to it, emissions in these sectors have been significantly reduced over the last 16 years. In other words: it is about imposing a fee for air pollution so that over time it completely ceases to be profitable.

(Newseria)