The EU’s multi-annual financial framework 2021-2027 and the Recovery Plan for Europe must make a significant contribution to the objectives of the EU’s environment and climate policy, European environment ministers reaffirmed on Tuesday 14 July.
Meeting by videoconference on 13 and 14 July, the ministers discussed mainly climate policy (other news), ‘sustainable digitalisation’ and, more broadly, the opportunities offered by the European Green Deal to guide the EU.
This videoconference thus enabled them to send a clear signal a few days before the European Council of 17 and 18 July and to renew their expectations (see EUROPE 12512/3). It was “an additional informal exchange”, said German Minister Svenja Schulze.
Changing course. “The time has come to set the course so as not to return to normal after the crisis, but rather to make a genuine new start for a sustainable and environmentally friendly economy and society”, she told the press (see EUROPE 12522/14, 12512/3).
He also spoke of the desire, shared with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, for the EU to take the lead in the global green recovery.
Ministers agreed that the climate and environmental crises have lost none of their urgency. In their view, reforms aimed at strengthening growth and competitiveness, maintaining and creating jobs and developing new skills must go hand in hand with ambitious and effective climate and environmental protection measures.
The competent European Commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevičius, referred to the need for “systemic change geared towards resilience and sustainability for the economy, our societies and long-term resilience”.
He welcomed the “strong political will” and the joint call by ministers for a green recovery, combining “competitiveness with cost-effective measures for environmental and climate protection”.
Green Digitalisation. Ms Schulze welcomed the “first exchange” of ministerial views. On the one hand, digital technologies and infrastructures should be “aligned with the environment, and on the other hand, digital should be used as a lever for the environment”, in a circular economy where digitalisation can increase transparency along supply chains, she explained.
Asked by EUROPE about the concrete ideas that had been put forward, she cited the control of plastics in the oceans - an experiment in which 80 young people from 50 countries had taken part - or the digital passport for products.
This idea is included in the EU’s Second Action Plan for the Circular Economy. “If every product has a digital passport, it will be easier to recycle”, she said.
It also mentions the benefits that a digital platform for better waste management in the Member States could bring. According to the Commissioner, the EU can be “a global model for the digital economy”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)