Nine environment ministers from European Union countries travelled to Budapest on Thursday 11 July for an informal meeting organised by the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Did the others boycott the meeting after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ‘peace mission’ to Moscow? (see EUROPE 13450/5)
While the idea is circulating that some Member States might react in this way, Teresa Ribera, Spain’s Minister for Ecological Transition, pointed out, when asked by Agence Europe ahead of the discussions, that it is in any case “frequent that ministers do not attend informal meetings”.
Already the subject of much comment, the Hungarian Prime Minister’s trip “cannot engage the European Union”, said Teresa Ribera. In her view, this situation should not prevent us from “respecting the European institutions and we need to commit ourselves to building Europe and connecting and identifying the common challenges”.
The European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, said no different. “Viktor Orbán’s visit is more than unfortunate”, he told Agence Europe, adding that Orbán “did not have a mandate” from the EU. That said, “the reason why we’re here is that we have no alternative”, continued the Commissioner. According to Wopke Hoekstra, while “the geopolitical circumstances are difficult, the problem of climate change simply will not go away”. Rather than ignoring this state of affairs, “it's better to tackle it and tackle it all together”, he said.
This desire for a united front foreshadows COP29, which was on the agenda for the first day of the meeting in Budapest on Thursday 11 July. “We must ensure that Europe is not the only one to do our fair share” warned Mr Hoekstra. He hoped that the EU would “make sure that China, India, the United States and others” would play along.
What are the priorities? COP29 must “push forward on the Dubai consensus of last year”. According to Commissioner Hoekstra, the other key issues for the EU at COP29 will be the financing of measures and carbon markets.
The scale of the climate challenge is such that we need to “accelerate” the financing of actions, confirmed Teresa Ribera, who believes that the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, requires “all financial flows to be climate-proof”. According to the Spanish minister, the transformation of the economy should lead the EU to turn to “wind and solar energy and other natural resources”.
Will the Hungarian Presidency make progress on climate and environmental issues after recently opposing the adoption of the nature restoration regulation (see EUROPE 13433/2)? “The topics that the Hungarian president has chosen for this meeting are all very important”, said Leena Ylä-Mononen, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency (EEA).
On Thursday 11 and Friday 12 July, discussions focused and will continue to focus on the competitiveness of the circular economy, resilient water management, cross-border water and air pollution and the EIB’s presentation of its financial instruments dedicated to climate action and environmental sustainability (see EUROPE 13450/11).
Whatever happens, the expectations placed on the Hungarian Presidency will be tempered by the “transition phase” in which the EU institutions find themselves, concluded Wopke Hoekstra. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)