The Next Generation EU Recovery Plan (see EUROPE 12494/2) takes into account the priorities set by the Green Deal, the European Commission said once again, on Wednesday 3 June, at a webinar organised by Finance Watch and the Club of Rome.
Its various components incorporate sustainability and there are several references to the Green Deal, stressed Markus Schulte, Senior Advisor in the Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN).
National and climate plans, submitted under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, will need to be consistent with EU environmental priorities, he pointed out, as an example.
In addition, the Commission has raised the level of ambition of the InvestEU programme by doubling the amount of the Sustainable Infrastructure Window budget and increasing the target for green investments under that window to 60%, he said. The new Strategic Investment Window could target, among others, the development of EU industry in such sectors as batteries or hydrogen.
The new instrument to support corporate solvency (see EUROPE 12496/9) is also accompanied by guidelines to align investment with EU priorities, he added.
The European Parliament will take a closer look at whether the promises to gear the recovery plan and the revised Multiannual Financial Framework towards the objectives of the Green Deal have been fulfilled, said MEP Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany).
He welcomed the Commission's recommendation to link the aid granted to Member States under the recovery plan to the 'European Semester', but regretted that the Parliament was not involved in this decision. The 'European Semester' needs “a democratic reform” and the European Parliament should have a say on it.
As for proposals for new environmental taxes to finance the exit from the crisis, such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, he said that the revenues should not simply be used for green investments, but should be partially redistributed to citizens. “Any transformation strategy that is not considered as socially just will never work”, he warned.
He believes that the impetus that green finance really needs will come not so much from instruments such as the EU taxonomy on Sustainable Finance, but rather from the adoption of binding rules for agriculture and other sectors on climate and biodiversity.
Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy
Martin Spolc, Head of the Unit on Sustainable Finance in the Commission's Directorate General for Financial Stability (DG FISMA), detailed the Commission's intentions for its renewed strategy on Sustainable Finance (see EUROPE 12388/7), also in the framework of the Green Deal.
“Our strategy that we are preparing for adoption before the end of the year will explore not only how private capital can help but also public funding”, he said.
The public consultation document (see EUROPE 12364/29), which also refers to the Covid-19 pandemic and the risks associated with human activity and biodiversity loss, raises a range of questions, including whether incentives are needed for the private sector, he said.
Of course, the taxonomy on Sustainable Finance (see EUROPE 12393/20) remains “the key tool” in this area, but the Commission is also working with the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) to identify binding minimum requirements on biodiversity information that actors in the financial market should disclose (see EUROPE 12473/18), he said. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)