The European Commission is working to soften the impact of the transition to clean energy. One of the tools is to be the Citizens Energy Package, which is intended to protect consumers and ensure more affordable electricity prices. According to Beata Szydło, a Member of the European Parliament from Law and Justice, the proposed instruments represent more of a correction to the direction already adopted by the EU in climate policy, while what is needed is a complete change. She emphasises that such policy should not assume the total abandonment of coal.
In March, the European Commission presented the Citizens Energy Package. Its aim is to lower energy bills, protect citizens and enable them to actively participate in the energy transition, combat energy poverty and help Member States implement existing regulations.
“The Citizens Energy Package, which the European Commission and the European Parliament are trying to push through, is nothing more than a set of legal regulations resulting from the amended climate law of 5 March, adopted by the Council of the European Union,” Tomasz Buczek, a Member of the European Parliament from Confederation, told Newseria. “In my opinion, this is a gigantic raid on taxpayers’ money. In reality, it will involve a massive financial transformation from the EU budget in order to implement EU climate policy.”
The issue concerns the introduction of an intermediate climate target, which assumes a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 compared with 1990 levels.
According to the European Commission’s communication to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on the Citizens Energy Package, retail electricity prices for households in the EU are 36% higher than the average recorded between 2014 and 2020, while gas prices are 68% higher. Energy bills paid by Europeans are affected by grid charges, national taxes and fees, wholesale energy prices and the level of individual consumption.
The Commission therefore proposes, among other measures, reducing taxes and charges on electricity for households to the minimum level applicable in the European Union. It estimates that this could reduce bills by an average of around 14% per year, or approximately EUR 200. Other proposed actions include lowering network tariffs for consumers and increasing the use of clean and energy-efficient technologies in households.
“EU policy on climate and energy prices is simply wrong, badly defined and strikes at our energy sovereignty, especially in Poland. We have a strongly developed coal mining sector, which the EU told us to close: to reduce the number of mines and cut coal use. At the same time, we have delays in the energy transition, which is taking place in a chaotic and disorganised manner. There is no continuity here, also in the policies of successive governments, which have changed over recent years. This is a huge challenge for the years ahead,” the MEP said.
Under the draft updated National Energy and Climate Plan to 2030 and 2040, Poland’s demand for hard coal is expected to fall by 2030 to 28 million tonnes in the WEM scenario and 19 million tonnes in the WAM scenario compared with 2020. The document assumes that in the following years, coal use will be gradually replaced by zero-emission fuels and, transitionally, also by natural gas, which has lower emissions than coal.
The plan shows that hard coal production in Poland has been steadily declining. After the outbreak of the pandemic, it fell below 60 million tonnes, and in 2024 it amounted to nearly 44 million tonnes. Domestic coal extraction is to end no later than 2049.
“I think that as Poland we cannot exclude our own resources, above all coal. Of course, everything must be prepared in such a way that, first, it is economically viable, and second, that coal-based production also guarantees goals that are important for citizens, meaning that it does not interfere too much with our environment. But coal is certainly also needed in the energy mix,” said Beata Szydło.
According to the National Energy and Climate Plan, total investment expenditure on clean energy, security and lower bills is expected to reach between PLN 2.7 trillion and PLN 3.5 trillion by 2040. The largest spending will go towards new capacity, including nuclear energy and renewables, as well as grids and thermal modernisation.
“The discussion on energy that is currently taking place in the European Union is extremely important. I think that, above all, we should strive for changes. The bad solutions that have been introduced have very significantly increased energy prices for both businesses and citizens. This is also being felt in the European economy. The proposals currently being presented by the European Commission speak of a certain correction and modernisation. We will see how this ultimately looks during the work,” Beata Szydło emphasised.
“An appropriate energy mix is one that includes renewable energy sources, hydrogen and, above all, nuclear power. There is reflection within the European Commission, expressed for example by President von der Leyen, that moving away from clean energy linked to nuclear power was a mistake,” she added.
In March this year, Ursula von der Leyen admitted at the Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris that Europe’s turning away from a reliable, affordable source of low-emission energy such as nuclear power had been a strategic mistake. She announced, among other things, EUR 200 million in support in the form of guarantees for private investment in innovative nuclear technologies. These funds are to come from the Emissions Trading System. The European Commission also presented a European strategy for small modular reactors, or SMRs. It assumes the simplification and harmonisation of regulations, mobilisation of investment and sector financing, as well as cooperation at EU level and the building of a common supply chain.
“As far as Poland is concerned, I believe that nuclear power is the most important thing. I hope that the work carried out by Orlen and President Obajtek will be continued. We need this, and it fits into the changes that are beginning to be visible in the European Union,” the Law and Justice MEP stressed.
“At the same time, I want to emphasise that for Poland it is also important, at least during the transition period, to use the resources we have. A complete abandonment and attempt to discredit fossil fuels, especially coal, is a serious mistake. This is also a reflection that must be undertaken in Poland,” Beata Szydło said.
