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The European Green Deal: where are we at?

Following her election as the new President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen proposed a new European Green Deal which aims to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050 while developing its future economic model towards sustainability.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 has however raised some concerns with regard to the impact that the pandemic will have on EU climate action and on the European Green Deal overall.

Several interest groups and think tanks, including the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), have nonetheless intervened to push for a central role of the European Green Deal and of public-private green investments in the EU economic recovery strategy after the COVID-19. To this end, the following initiatives have been undertaken:

  • An open letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been sent by 15 foundations from the Foundations Platform F20 for climate action and sustainable development;

  • an opinion piece has been signed by 13 Environment Ministers of EU Member States (Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland, and Sweden);

  • a joint statement of the Members of the European Council has been released on the 26th March 2020;

  • a call to action of the European alliance for a Green Recovery was launched on 14th April by MEP Pascal Canfin (Renew, France), Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI). The Green Recovery alliance includes members of the European Parliament from different political groups, business and trade union associations, and nongovernmental organisations.

The German Council Presidency, set to enter the office next July, will not be excluded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its programme, which should have been particularly ambitious with regard to the EU environmental policy and climate action, will instead more likely aim to “comprehensively accompany” the implementation of the EU Commission’s Green Deal and present the next initiatives to the Council.

Gaspar Van Cutsem