The European Parliament adopted, on the evening of Wednesday 16 September (417 votes in favour, 141 against and 138 abstentions), the report by the MEP Manólis Kefaloyiánnis (EPP, Greece) on the Just Transition Fund (JTF).
“This is a massive vote of confidence from the plenary for the work done in the Committee on Regional Development (REGI )”, said REGI Committee Chair, Younous Omarjee (GUE/NGL) to EUROPE.
“The Parliament has widened the scope of the JTF with a special focus on less developed areas, islands and outermost regions and a very clear increase in the necessary resources”, he continued. He added: “We especially ask that only 50% of the national allocation be available for countries that have not committed to a climate neutral target by 2050”.
“We need more money to help regions and citizens make the ecological transition”, said the rapporteur, who pointed to the gulf between the EU Council's position (€17.5 billion in total) and that of the European Parliament (€58 billion).
On the one hand, the European Parliament makes several major changes to the initial proposal (see EUROPE 12561/11): it substantially increases the budget to €25 billion over the next Multiannual Financial Framework. It decouples the Cohesion Fund from the JTF investments.
It blocks 1% of funding for islands (a first!) and the outermost regions. In plenary, MEPs made 50% of the national allocation conditional on a national commitment to climate neutrality.
On the other hand, the MEPs support investment in gas infrastructure, albeit under restrictive conditions.
A vote that is above all geographical
This last amendment, which is politically crucial and contradicts the original spirit of the Fund, puts the European Parliament in a more conservative position than the EU Council, which has taken a stance against investment in gas infrastructure.
Thus, with this provision being maintained, the Greens/NGL voted as a single block against the text, with the exception of three members from Central and Eastern Europe, who voted in favour. The ECR group also voted against, but not for the same reasons: the text was too timid on the financing of gas infrastructure.
It is true that the majority of the group is made up of members from either Central and Eastern European or Southern European States. The same geographical reading grid can be applied for GUE/NGL and ID, both groups being split between opponents of the text (in the case of ID, the divide is rather North/South).
The EPP voted as a bloc in favour of the text. The S&D and Renew Europe voted overwhelmingly in favour of the text, although there were also some dissenting votes. For example, some French and Nordic MEPs abstained.
The first interinstitutional meeting will be held on 24 September. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)