The proposal indicates how big the future EU budget should be, how it should be filled, and what the main priorities for future funding should be.
Climate action has been identified as one of the main priorities for future funding. While the current budget for the period 2014 to 2020 has a 20 percent climate action spending target to be implemented horizontally throughout all spending programmes, the new proposal sets apart 25 percent of the EU budget for climate action. This 5 percent increase compared to the current climate spending results in a total of 320 billion euros for climate action during the entire period (2018 prices).
“The European Commission acknowledges the EU budget’s role in tackling climate change” said Markus Trilling, finance and subsidies policy coordinator at Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe. “More money is needed to boost European and international climate action. So far the green potential of the EU budget has regrettably been untapped. It is a good sign that the European Commission considers increasing the share of the future budget dedicated to climate action.”
Mr Trilling added that the post-2020 EU budget must spend at least 40 percent on the decarbonisation of energy, industry and mobility systems in order to bring European economies closer to the Paris Agreement. The budget must also ensure that not one cent will benefit fossil fuel activities and infrastructure. In the upcoming negotiations, Member States must support French President Emmanuel Macron’s plea for a 40 percent share of the next EU budget to be dedicated to climate action and the ecological transition.
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