Carbon reform may be shaken by European Parliament vote

Fringe gains could see proposals to modify emissions market suffer

The prospects for long-term reform of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) are likely to be hindered by the outcome of recent elections to the European Parliament, which took place from May 22–25, say analysts.

As a result of the elections, the share of parliamentary seats held by mainstream parties shrank in favour of far-right and Eurosceptic groups. Such groups tend to be opposed to EU regulation and less concerned about environmental issues, analysts note.

Marcus Ferdinand