[A] suggestion that proceeds of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme should be syphoned into the European Union budget have come under fire from MEP Paul Nuttall.
The idea has been mooted by Commissioner Gunther Oettinger (CDU) as a means to help fill the gaping hole that will result from the UK leaving.
Mr Nuttall, UKIP North West Euro-MP, commented, “If the European Commissioners dips their greasy paws into the ETS honey pot, it would be an act of theft from the taxpayer without their consent – and that is wrong.
“As the bureaucrats of the European Commission are not elected, it would amount to taxation without representation, which is repugnant and should not be allowed to happen.”
The EU’s emissions scheme was put in place to reduce carbon emissions by requiring heavy industry in Europe to pay for expensive permits to emit carbon dioxide. However it is not a global scheme and companies in India and China have happily built coal-fired power stations while European firms face crippling permit costs, he explained.
“I have never been in favour of ETS and I pointed out in 2015 that Al Qaeda terrorists made millions out of scamming the ETS, while thousands of British steelworkers lost their job because of it.
“It is another thing we can escape from after Brexit but meanwhile it is outrageous that the proceeds from it should end up in the black hole that is the EU budget accounts,” he said.
