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Poland Seeks Help to Block EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Poland is on the hunt for allies to block an EU plan to auction off the right to emit carbon dioxide. Ex-Communist countries worry for their economies if they have to bid against the likes of France and Germany.

Way back in 2005, the European Union launched a greenhouse gas emission trading scheme. In January, the EU announced its plan to auction off CO2 emission credits to the highest bidder instead of giving them away. And now, Poland is trying to block the deal, arguing it would endanger economic growth of EU member states in Eastern Europe.

"We are trying to find allies, especially among fellow EU newcomers," Michal Boni, senior aide to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, told Polish news agency PAP. "It's possible to build a blocking minority, and we're working on it."

The system of auctioning off emissions credits is part of a vast climate change package unveiled by the European Commission in January. Effective in 2013, it would require companies to bid in international auctions for permission to emit carbon dioxide. Under the current Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) polluting companies are allocated these carbon allowances, which they may then buy and sell on the open market, rather than paying for them.

Poland worries that wealthier nations would be able to outbid them for allowances, forcing them to seek alternatives to the Silesian coal reserves that currently power 96 percent of the country's electricity. Polish experts say such a switch to less carbon-intensive sources would hamstring the economy. Replacing coal with natural gas, a cleaner option more readily at hand than wind or solar energy, would increase dependence on Russia -- something Poland has long been trying to avoid.

Poland requested a 2008-2012 carbon dioxide quota of 284.6 million tons per year, but Brussels reduced it by 26.7 percent to 208.5 million tons. Other former Communist countries like Romania and Bulgaria have also complained that Brussels lacks sensitivity to the needs of late-joining EU members who are trying to catch up.

Boni argued that now was the time to reach out to such countries because France currently holds the rotating EU presidency and is trying to finalize the new climate change deal.

rbn/afp