The vote in the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) on the Just Transition Fund, and particularly the adoption of the compromise amendment providing the option to fund gas projects, provoked an outcry amongst a number of environmentalist and radical left-wing MEPs and NGOs on Monday 6 July.
MEPs voted in favour of a compromise amendment that introduces an exemption scheme for regions that are heavily dependent on the extraction and exploitation of fossil fuels (coal, lignite, etc.) that enables them to direct investments financed by the Fund to natural gas-related activities (see EUROPE 12521/1).
The amendment was supported by 23 MEPs, including unanimous support from the EPP, Renew Europe and a large number of S&D MEPs, including Corina Cretu (Romania), a former Commissioner for Cohesion Policy.
Sixteen MEPs voted against, i.e. all of the MEPs from the Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL groups, including Younous Omarjee (France), the chair of the REGI committee, all of the MEPs from the ECR group and several members of the ID group (the final two groups found the amendment too restrictive). There were three abstentions among the S&D and ID MEPs.
“Phasing out fossil fuels with subsidies to support fossil fuels is nonsense!”, tweeted shadow rapporteur Martina Michels (GUE/NGL, Germany).
“Big disappointment”, tweeted shadow rapporteur Nieklas Nienass (Greens/EFA, Germany), wondering whether it was possible to “cast out the devil with Beelzebub”. The MEP announced that the “struggle” would continue in plenary session.
Unhappy NGOs. The environmentalist NGOs WWF and Greenpeace were clearly disappointed, with WWF criticising the “dead end” that gas constitutes in the fight against climate change, and Greenpeace labelling the European Parliament vote a “travesty”.
To see the votes registered, go to: https://bit.ly/3fa1sLB (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens and Damien Genicot)