Chaos erupts at the European Parliament as three key climate laws are postponed

euronews.com:

Chaos erupted in the European Parliament on Wednesday as the scheduled votes on three key climate laws were postponed over last-minute political disagreements.

The trouble began with a vote to reform the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS), a well-established scheme that sets a price for the greenhouse gas emissions released by the most energy-intensive industries.

The ETS is considered a key tool to gradually decrease the burning of fossil fuels and encourage the deployment of renewable energy.

MEPs had drafted an initial report about the ETS reform in the parliament's environmental committee.

Among the changes was the creation of a new ETS that would target the emissions coming from road transport and buildings, which many lawmakers feared would hit struggling households. In their text, MEPs decided the system would exempt private buildings and private transport until 2029.

The report received an ample margin of support in the environmental committee, a consensus that was expected to be replicated in the full hemicycle.

But as several amendments put forward by the socialists began to be struck down, one after the other, Iratxe García, the group's leader, requested a short interruption before the final vote.

"If not, we'll vote against!" García was heard shouting to their peers, who complained about the pause. The socialists then gathered on the stairs to discuss their next move.

"I think the three big minutes are up," said Roberta Metsola, the president of the European Parliament.

Metsola opened the floor for the final vote and revealed the ETS proposal had been surprisingly rejected by 340 votes against and 265 votes in favour, with 34 abstentions.

The result prompted cheers from the socialists and greens, who had pushed for