European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis presented to MEPs on Tuesday 14 January the content of the ‘Investment Plan for a Sustainable Europe’, which should in future be the financial arm of the European Green Deal.
According to him, “the strength and novelty of [this] plan is that it brings together new policy initiatives and existing instruments”.
In terms of financing, as detailed above (see EUROPE 12401/11), this plan aims to mobilise at least €1,000 billion in sustainable investments by 2030.
About half will come from the EU budget, provided that the EU Council and the European Parliament accept the Commission’s proposal to set the share of the EU budget dedicated to the Plan at 25%.
The other half will consist of €279 billion in public and private funds for climate-friendly and environmentally friendly investments mobilized through InvestEU, €114 billion from national co-financing for green projects and €100 billion mobilised under the ‘Just Transition Mechanism’.
The Commission also intends to use the innovation and modernisation funds under the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Promote sustainable investments.
The Sustainable Investment Plan also aims to provide “conditions to enable public authorities and private operators to invest sustainably”, the Commissioner further explained.
To this end, Mr Dombrovskis assured MEPs that the Commission will examine how the European regulation laying down the basis for the future taxonomy for sustainable finance (see EUROPE 12392/14, 12393/20) can also be used by the public sector.
"We will propose legislation on green public procurement and revise State Aid rules in light the Green Deal”, he added, without further details at this stage.
Finally, the Latvian recalled the Commission’s willingness to transform the European Investment Bank (EIB) into the European Climate Bank by aligning its activities with the objectives of the Green Deal (see other news).
A €100 billion mechanism for a just transition
With the objective of providing targeted support to the regions and sectors that will be most affected by the ecological transition, the ‘Just Transition Mechanism’ will include in particular the Just Transition Fund.
The €7.5 billion fund is expected to generate at least €30-50 billion in investments, according to Commission estimates (see separate news item).
Under the ‘Just Transition Mechanism’, the Commission also expects to mobilise €45 billion in investment through InvestEU and €25-30 billion in investment through a new public sector lending facility established in partnership with the European Investment Bank (EIB), supported by the EU budget.
Members’ reactions
Overall, MEPs seemed quite pleased with the presentation of the Sustainable Investment Plan.
Dragoş Pîslaru (Renew Europe, Romania) felt that with the Green Deal and this Plan, the EU now had an ambitious long-term vision and the instruments to make it a reality.
While Iratxe García Pérez (S&D, Spain) described the plan as an “important first step”, she stressed the need to think about how to increase own resources, so as not to reduce resources for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and cohesion policy. She has thus pleaded in particular for a tax on plastics and for the harmonisation of the corporate tax base (CCCTB/CATCA), a dossier which is still blocked at the EU Council.
For his part, Niklas Nienass (Greens/EFA, Germany) said the plan should be accompanied by a concrete coal exit plan, setting deadlines for the closure of power stations in all regions concerned.
On the other hand, Johan Van Overtveldt (ECR, Belgium) and Gianantonio Da Re (ID, Italy) denounced the Plan, accusing the Commission of a lack of clarity as to the source of the financial resources. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)