Climate action, the 2030 biodiversity strategy and sustainable digitalisation are three environmental priorities of the German Presidency of the EU Council, with the absolute priority being a post-Covid-19 relaunch guided by the European Green Deal.
These priorities “are the key elements for making Europe more modern and crisis-resistant, and enabling it to take on its responsibilities on the international stage”, emphasised the German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Svenja Schulze, on Tuesday, 7 July.
These were the terms she used to present the German Presidency’s programme of work to the MEPs of the European Parliament's Environment Committee (see EUROPE 12520/8).
Unsurprisingly, these priorities were welcomed, along with the known differences between political groups on the climate bill and the raising of the EU's emission reduction target for 2030, as well as the submission this year of an enhanced EU contribution (NDC) to the UN without waiting for COP26.
Recovery plan. Peter Liese (EPP, Germany) and Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe, France) asked whether there would be an Environment Council initiative being put before the European Council on 17–18 July to ensure that climate protection will play a central role in financing and investment issues, and that money will be properly invested in useful and future-oriented technologies.
Schulze also said that climate protection “must play an important role in Next Generation EU”.
She noted that the issue had been discussed at the end of June at the Environment Council and ministers recognised the potential behind “Green Deal” initiatives for a green recovery, as long as they are sufficiently funded (see EUROPE 12512/3). She also added that “agriculture ministers were in agreement”.
Climate action. The difference noted between Germany and the German Presidency of the EU Council was also a leitmotif in the answers provided to MEPs.
According to her, the price of CO2 is one of the instruments for achieving better climate protection. “We can talk about the German experience, but we need to have a toolbox and various tools. For the time being, I am putting together the proposals and ensuring that we can reach conclusions in the EU Council”.
Similarly, on the subject of moving away from coal and nuclear power, she said she could “share the German experience”.
With regard to raising the 2030 CO2 emission reduction target to 50-55%: “It is not about my political ambitions and what the environment ministers want, but about what we can achieve – a joint EU position on climate neutrality and the updating of the NDC”.
In response to Mr Canfin, who asked “when Angela Merkel would clarify her country's position” on the 55% emissions reduction target, Ms Schulze replied that “Germany has taken up a very ambitious position. Intense discussions are being held. The role of the Presidency, however, is to find a common goal. The Paris Agreement is very clear on this matter and in 2020, we need to present an updated NDC”.
Biodiversity: Ms Schulze also took care to greatly emphasise the link between the fight against biodiversity losses and the fight against climate change.
“We need to link the 'Farm to Fork' and 'biodiversity' strategies and ensure that discussions move forward at the same time; this way, the COP15 can assume a joint position”, she told César Luena (S&D, Spain), who called for an ambitious outcome, and Silvia Modig (GUE/NGL, Finland), who argued that the climate objectives would never be achieved without aligning the CAP and other policies to the Paris Agreement.
Green Digitalisation. Ms Schulze said that the transition to digital requires “safeguards” in order to be sustainable.
Circular economy: “the EU will be more sustainable, more competitive and more resilient if we increase the life span of products and maintain the cycle of resource usage”. This will also help the EU become less dependent on international supply chains, Schulze stressed. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)