A few days before the European summit, which will focus on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2017 and the European Union’s recovery plan, the NGO CAN Europe (Climate Action Network) called on EU leaders to put the European Green Deal and the Paris agreement at the heart of the post-Covid-19 recovery on Tuesday 16 June at a press conference.
“This is vital to protect people and economies from other, new shocks and disruptions caused by the worsening of climate change”, said Wendel Trio, Director of CAN Europe, while stressing that today’s investment decisions will have a huge impact on tomorrow’s world.
According to the NGO, the Commission’s current proposals, brought together under the banner Next Generation EU (see EUROPE 12494/2), do not yet give sufficient guarantees that climate ambition will prevail in Member States’ spending.
The organisation is particularly concerned that the review process for future national recovery plans under the new Recovery and Resilience Facility is not sufficiently binding.
It is therefore concerned that Member States using this instrument could benefit from EU funds to boost their economies without being required to invest in the green transition and without excluding financial support for fossil fuels from the scope of the recovery measures. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)