Grand Committee for opposing EC´s forestry policy

The parliamentary Grand Committee has decided on Parliament's position on a proposed delegated act on climate under EU Taxonomy Regulation.

The committee agreed with the government on the matter and considers that Finland should vote against the delegated act, said a press release issued by the parliament on Friday.

Earlier, the government on 17 November decided to oppose the adoption of the Climate Delegated Act under the EU classification system for sustainable activities in the current form proposed by the European Commission.

The Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs outlined the government’s position on the delegated Act, and submitted to the Parliament as a Europe communication.

In the government’s view, some aspects of the technical criteria for forest management are difficult to understand and open to interpretation. Verifying compliance with the criteria would be difficult, and they cannot be considered appropriate in all respects.

The ambiguity of the criteria could lead to a situation where forestry would be excluded from the taxonomy, which would make it more difficult to access funding for forestry investments.

Finland also believes that detailed regulation of forestry should remain within the competence of the Member States.

The Commission’s proposal requires the technical screening criteria to be examined at the level of the forest holding or procurement area, whereas up until now the sustainability of forest use has, as a rule, been examined at the Member State level.

Finland also regrets that the technical screening criteria treat hydropower and bioenergy differently from other low-emission forms of energy.

In Finland’s view, the objective of the delegated act – to facilitate the financing of climate change mitigation and adaptation – is important.

The technical screening criteria for the many economic activities in the delegated act can mainly be considered successful and in line with climate goals.

Moreover, Finland regrets that the Commission has not included technical screening criteria for nuclear energy in the Climate Delegated Act and considers it important that the Commission adopt a complementary delegated act for nuclear energy as soon as possible.

The Taxonomy Regulation aims to accelerate the attainment of emissions reduction goals by creating a classification system for sustainable financing and investment targets. In line with the regulation, the climate resilience of a project may affect the amount of funding it receives.