After a break due to Covid-19, discussions on the proposed ‘Climate Law’ were resumed in the Council of the European Union on Monday, 25 May, during the second physical meeting of the national experts in the ‘Environment’ working group.
The first physical meeting of the working group, held last 13 March, had been an opportunity for the European Commission to give Member States a detailed explanation of its proposal for a text aimed at enshrining the EU’s political will to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 in European legislation (see EUROPE 12439/2).
According to information gathered by EUROPE, this second physical meeting enabled the national experts to get to the heart of the matter this time and discuss the proposal article by article.
Not surprisingly, Member States would thus already have unanimously expressed their intention to oppose the provision to set the EU’s post-2030 climate goals through the adoption of delegated acts (see EUROPE 12438/3).
One source explains that it would then be necessary to determine how to proceed differently so as to ensure that the EU remains on the path to climate neutrality between 2030 and 2050. According to this source, some Member States could propose setting a target for 2040 during the forthcoming discussions.
With regard to the 2030 target, it would appear that the positions expressed by Member States during the ‘Environment’ Council on 5 March have not significantly changed (see EUROPE 12440/1).
The next meeting of the ‘Environment’ working group is scheduled to be held on 8 June.
On the European Parliament’s side of things, Jytte Guteland (S&D, Sweden)—the rapporteur for this dossier—will present her report (see EUROPE 12483/11) to the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) on Thursday. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)