The 8th Environment Action Programme (8th EAP), which will guide the implementation of the EU’s environment and climate policies up to 2030 and provide a strengthened monitoring framework, was formally adopted without debate by the EU Council on Tuesday 29 March.
Presented by the Commission in October 2020, it is the result of interinstitutional negotiations that the European Parliament validated on 10 March (see EUROPE 12908/13).
The 8th EAP aims to accelerate the just and inclusive transition to a clean, climate-neutral, circular and welfare-based economy. That is why it is structured around six priority thematic objectives to be achieved by 2030. The long-term goal, by 2050, is to be ‘Living well, within the limits of our planet’.
The text foresees: - the significant reduction of the EU’s raw material and consumption footprint; - the strengthening of environmentally positive incentives; - the phasing out of environmentally damaging subsidies, in particular fossil fuel subsidies.
In 2024 there will be a mid-term review of progress towards the priority thematic objectives. Following this review, the Commission will have to present, if appropriate, a legislative proposal to add an annex to the 8th EAP, which will contain a list and timetable of actions for the period after 2025. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)