The EU's carbon market took center stage at this week's Brussels summit, with Nordic leaders defending the Emissions Trading System against a push from the Visegrad group, Italy, and Greece to soften it. The dispute is not new, but the energy price crisis gives it more weight. Fossil-heavy countries want lower carbon costs; green-leaning ones argue that weakening the ETS would break investment confidence and shift the burden to harder-to-cut sectors. The attempt to delay ETS2, the carbon market for road fuels and buildings, until 2030 did not get enough support. The six countries did secure a Commission impact assessment on the design and safeguards. That keeps the 2029 start date intact for now, but it also leaves room for more political pressure before the final rules are locked in.
