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European cycling groups have criticised EU countries for neglecting cycling in their National Recovery and Resilience Plans, saying the low levels of funding allocated by most member states will see them miss out on billions in economic and health benefits.

Europe's current economic model "has no future" and does not respond to "major environmental challenges", Portugal's prime minister António Costa said on Friday, calling for the adoption of new models such as the circular economy and sustainable bioeconomy.

n the fifth chapter of The Wonk’s Survival Guide to the European Green Deal, POLITICO looks at efforts to help vulnerable regions, people and industries prepare for a low-emissions future.

The European Commission is considering issuing green bonds for the first time, as investors and politicians call on Brussels to raise sustainable debt as part of its €750bn borrowing spree to fund Europe’s economic recovery from Covid-19.
Johannes Hahn, commissioner for the EU budget, told the Financial Times that Brussels was “exploring the possibility” of selling sustainable bonds as part of an unprecedented debt-raising exercise that is expected to begin early next year.
Green bonds are a way of raising money for environmentally friendly purposes; issuance has exploded in recent years, with a total of $263bn sold globally last year, according to figures from Moody’s, up from less than $1bn a decade ago.

Le site du journal Le Soir Plus, premier site d'information en Belgique francophone. Actu en continu, archives gratuites, galeries photos, podcast, vidéos, blogs de la rédaction, résultats sportifs

A cross-party group of lawmakers in the European Parliament – ranging from the far-left to the centre-right – have penned a joint letter calling for the EU’s proposed €750 billion recovery fund to be closely aligned with the bloc’s climate goals.

European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen called on Thursday (2 July) a mini-summit for next week with her counterparts at the Council, Parliament and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to work towards a deal on the EU recovery package.

The European Union’s proposed €750 billion recovery plan from the coronavirus crisis will need to acknowledge national differences on clean energy in order to succeed, a senior EU official has said.

The European Commission will take account of “the different starting points of member states” when modelling the costs and benefits of raising the EU’s 2030 climate goals, said Artur Runge-Metzger, director at the energy department of the EU executive.

The recovery plan from the COVID-19 crisis must be in line with climate commitments, ensure no-one is left behind in the green transition, and create space for the voice of youth, write young climate activists.

The European Council summit ended on Friday (19 June) without agreement on the EU recovery fund. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear that she wants to act quickly, and the next round of negotiations is scheduled for mid-July. EURACTIV Germany reports.

It will be “very difficult” to reach an agreement on the recovery fund and the EU's overall seven-year budget by July, as intended, given the disagreements over the size, the distribution of the stimulus and the attached conditions, EU officials and national diplomats acknowledged on Wednesday (10 June).

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has forced Germany to radically revise the priorities for its EU Council Presidency in the second half of the year. One thing is clear: the biggest EU country takes the helm in the midst of an unprecedented crisis, at a crucial time for the bloc's recovery efforts. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The European Commission has received national Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRP) from 14 countries to access the bloc's €750 billion recovery fund. 13 of the EU's 27 member states are still missing from the list.

Last week, just before the Friday deadline, the finance ministers of Germany, France, Italy, and Spain urged member states to submit their recovery plans and pressed the European Commission to speed up the assessment of the investment and reform proposals.

Regional governments across the EU are bracing for difficult times ahead as they lack technical means and have scarce financial resources, according to a joint survey conducted by the European Committee of the Regions and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. EURACTIV France reports.

30% of the EU's €1.8 trillion budget and recovery plan for 2021-2027 will be made available for the green transition. That amount is no longer up for negotiation and the focus must now shift to spending it well, said Kadri Simson, the EU's energy commissioner.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about Sweden possibly vetoing the EU Recovery Fund, and Prime Minister Boyko Borrissov saying he would announce his resignation depending on the EU's weekend summit after he fired three of his ministers, and so much more.

For the post-2020 budget, the EU has fixed the objective of spending 25% (EUR 320 billion) of its long-term budget on climate action, an increase of 5% compared to the current budget. However, to avoid climate catastrophe, this percentage alone will not be sufficient: the whole EU budget should be aligned with the Paris Agreement in what is called the ‘climate proofing’ ofthe budget.

Most EU member states have reacted positively to the European Commission’s €750 billion  Recovery Fund proposal, which aims to help the bloc cope with the devastating economic implications of the pandemic.

Decarbonising the energy sector in Europe by 2050 is an ambitious, yet achievable objective.

European Union countries agreed on Wednesday (24 June) that the bloc's flagship fund to wean regions off fossil fuels should not finance nuclear or natural gas projects, despite calls from some Eastern countries for gas to be eligible for EU funding.

The EC’s “Next Generation EU” plan for a joint loan of €750bn is a major breakthrough as it accepts the need for the member states to share a large debt burden to revive the EU economy. It will be in addition to the European budget under discussion before the pandemic crisis. The other breakthrough is …

“While I welcome the announcement of a doubly increased renovation rate of the building stock across Europe, it was very disappointing to see that the Commission had not proposed a dedicated fund within the recovery package that would cover the upcoming renovation wave,” said Ciarán Cuffe, an Irish MEP from the Green party.

According to Cuffe, the EU recovery plan and renovation wave has the potential to create more than two million new jobs and contribute to a clean economy, on top of phasing out the worst energy performing buildings.

But without a dedicated budget, he doubts those promises can be kept.

The EU recovery fund can be used to unlock an estimated €1.8 trillion opportunity by 2030 by making better use of materials and reducing waste, write Patrick Schröder and David McGinty.