President, colleagues, I also thank the rapporteur for his work. Carbon Capture and Storage has become a central feature of the debate on fighting climate change. I am certainly also in favour of exploring and developing this technology. If it is successful it will one day have a significant role to play. And we need a strong legal framework to make sure that it is properly regulated.

But CCS cannot be used as an excuse to carry on building more dirty coal plants which will produce more CO2. The only way to move forward with CCS research without allowing this to happen is by adopting a clear Emissions Performance Standard. That is why the Greens/EFA Group has submitted an amendment which would control the level of emissions from new fossil fuel power stations. In other words, only the most efficient power stations could be built, whatever the fuel. The inclusion of this clause was an essential motive for us to vote in favour of the report.

We are disappointed that many other good points included by the committee have been lost during negotiations, including stronger liability and monitoring provisions, the inclusion of transport in the report, and the exclusion of enhanced oil recovery.

There has been tremendous pressure to come to a conclusion before the end of the year. But unless our conclusion is the right one, we risk undermining progress in other areas. For us, that conclusion has to include an Emissions Performance Standard.

Diwedd/Ends.