Krzysztof Bolesta, a deputy climate and environment minister, said Warsaw would also seek a slower reduction in the number of emission allowances available to European industry.
The European Commission earlier this month proposed changes to the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS) for the 2030-2040 period.
The system requires power plants, factories and other covered businesses to obtain allowances for their greenhouse gas emissions.
Each allowance permits the emission of one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent. The number available falls over time to encourage investment in cleaner technology.
'We do not agree to that'
Under the Commission’s plans for the EU’s next long-term budget, 30 percent of auction revenues assigned to member states would be transferred to the EU budget.
"We do not agree to that," Bolesta said. “ETS revenues allocated to individual countries should remain in national budgets. These are our funds. We have very large transition needs, and the European Commission should not take them away.”
Most auction revenues currently go to national governments. Member states must report how the money is spent and direct an amount equivalent to the proceeds toward climate and energy measures.
Poland received more than PLN 16 billion (around EUR 3.7 billion, USD 4.2 billion) from allowance auctions in 2025. Most of these funds were used to finance the country’s energy transition, state news agency PAP reported.
About one-quarter went to compensate energy-intensive industries for indirect emission costs.
The Commission also wants member states to direct at least half of their auction revenues toward reducing emissions in sectors covered by the system. It estimates that such projects currently receive about 5 percent of ETS revenues across the bloc.
Bolesta said the proposal was intended to return more money to industries that must buy allowances while financing expensive modernization projects.
He predicted that attempts to reserve the revenues for particular uses would face resistance from several EU governments.
'The Commission listened to us'
Poland will also seek to slow the rate at which allowances are removed from the market. The available pool is currently cut by 4.3 percent a year, with the rate due to rise to 4.4 percent in 2028.
Maintaining that pace would leave no new allowances available for sale by 2039.
The Commission has proposed reducing the annual rate to 3.7 percent from 2031 through 2035 and to 1.7 percent from 2036 through 2040.
"The Commission listened to us, and that is good," Bolesta said. He added that Poland wanted an even slower reduction during the first five-year period, particularly for industry.
Warsaw will also press for changes to the benchmarks used to calculate free allowances for industrial plants. The current system bases allocations on the performance of the cleanest 10 percent of installations in each sector.
Bolesta said a small and unusually efficient plant could set a standard that larger companies could not reasonably meet.
Poland plans to propose an alternative method. The Commission has already proposed slowing the reduction of free industrial allowances after 2030 from 2.5 percent to 2 percent a year.
Warsaw also wants favorable terms for two funding programs intended to help lower-income member states modernize their economies.
Poland is the largest beneficiary of the Modernisation Fund, which finances energy-system upgrades, renewable energy, storage projects and improvements in energy efficiency. It is expected to receive about EUR 14 billion from the fund between 2021 and 2030.
The Commission has proposed financing the fund with 280 million allowances during the following decade, down from almost 650 million in the current period. At an assumed price of EUR 75 per allowance, the fund would be worth about EUR 21 billion.
A proposed Investment Booster would receive 400 million allowances, worth an estimated EUR 30 billion. One-quarter of its funding would be reserved for the 12 lower-income countries supported by the Modernisation Fund.
Poland will also oppose bringing municipal waste incinerators into the ETS. The Commission wants the sector to begin purchasing allowances gradually from 2031, reaching full participation in 2034.
Bolesta said waste incineration produced about 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in Poland last year. Although this represents a small share of the country’s ETS emissions, he argued that the proposal would impose another carbon cost on a new sector.
Poland also wants the negotiations to address the separate ETS2 system for road transport and buildings, the PAP news agency reported.
Due to begin operating in 2028, it is expected to increase the cost of motor fuel and heating.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP