The Environment Ministers of the twenty-seven Member States of the European Union published a joint call for a “green” post-Covid-19 economic recovery, at an informal meeting by videoconference on 13 and 14 July.
“It is critical that we base our recovery on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement, the Aichi biodiversity targets, environmental principles as well as our other international commitments”, the ministers wrote.
To this end, they committed themselves to work actively, “in a spirit of mutual understanding and compromise”, to take up the challenge of combining economic recovery and “ambitious and cost-effective climate action and environmental protection”.
“Now is the time to set a course that ensures we do not return to business as usual, but make a genuine recovery that supports a viable and environmentally compatible economy and society”, said German Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze at the initiative of the meeting.
In their joint appeal, the ministers also reaffirmed their priorities for the next six months, mentioning in particular the conclusion of an agreement on the ‘climate law’, the biodiversity strategy for 2030 and the action plan on the circular economy.
While the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel, presented last Friday a proposal for a Recovery Plan and a Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 which foresees that 30% of the expenditure is specifically dedicated to climate (compared to 25% in the European Commission's proposal - see EUROPE 12525/1), ministers stressed the need for the MFF and the EU Recovery Plan to contribute “substantially” to the Union’s climate and environmental objectives.
Furthermore, while Environment Ministers agree with the Commission that Member States’ national recovery plans should be based on country-specific priority issues identified in the framework of the European Semester, in line with their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), Just Transition Plans, Partnership Agreements and EU-funded Operational Programmes, they insist on the respect of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
Finally, the informal meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss the role of digitisation with regard to the environment (see other news).
Divisions persist over the 2030 target. However, the Member States remain divided on the new European objective of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to be set for 2030 in the framework of the future ‘climate law’ (see EUROPE 12495/21).
On the one hand, seven Member States - Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Latvia - posted on Twitter in the morning to advocate an increased target of at least -55% (compared to 1990 emission levels).
On the other hand, some countries, mainly from Central and Eastern Europe, are concerned about the efforts they would have to make, and their socio-economic impacts, to achieve a 50 or 55% reduction.
In addition, several countries, including France and Germany, fall between these two groups, supporting a target of no more than -55% by 2030.
Asked at a press conference how to convince the most recalcitrant countries, Ms Schulze stressed the importance of dialogue and discussion, particularly on the aid that the Commission would provide, citing the role of the Just Transition Fund.
Finally, with regard to the Commission’s impact assessment, scheduled for September, to evaluate the feasibility of raising the target to -50 or -55 %, Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius said that it will only cover the EU as a whole, while several countries are calling for state-specific assessments.
The next meeting of Environment Ministers is scheduled for September 30 and October 1.
See the joint appeal: https://bit.ly/2DHLafd (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)