European Commission Daily News 14th July

COLLEGE MEETING: European Green Deal: Commission proposes transformation of EU economy and society to meet climate ambitions

Today, the European Commission adopted a broad set of proposals to make the EU’s climate, energy, transport and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. Achieving these emission reductions in the next decade is crucial to Europe becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and making the European Green Deal a reality. With today’s proposals, the Commission is presenting the legislative tools to deliver on the targets agreed in the European Climate Law and fundamentally transform our economy and society for a fair, green and prosperous future. A press release and six Q&As on Emission Trading/ETS, Effort sharing and the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions from land use, land use change and forestry, Making our energy systems fit for our climate targets, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, Energy taxation and Transport are available online. Ten factsheets, and the texts of all of today’s proposals are available on the dedicated website. Follow the press conference with President von der Leyen, Executive Vice-President Timmermans, and Commissioners Simson, Gentiloni, Vălean, Sinkevičius and Wojciechowski live on EbS. 

Commission welcomes Council’s approval of recovery and resilience plans

The European Commission welcomes the Council’s approval of its assessments of the recovery and resilience plans of the first 12 Member States: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Austria and Slovakia. These plans set out the measures that will be supported by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The RRF is at the heart of NextGenerationEU, which will provide €800 billion (in current prices) to support investments and reforms across the EU. The Council’s approval paves the way for the payment of up to 13% of the total allocated amount for each of these Member States in pre-financing. The Commission aims to disburse the first pre-financing as quickly as possible, following the signing of the bilateral financing agreements and, where relevant, loan agreements. The Commission will then authorise further disbursements based on the satisfactory fulfilment of the milestones and targets outlined in each of the Council Implementing Decisions, reflecting progress on the implementation of the investments and reforms covered in the plans.

EU side-event at the United Nations Forum on Sustainable Development Goals supporting global recovery

Today as part of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen and Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, together with the Slovenian Presidency of the Council, organise a flagship side-event starting at 19:00 CET, 13:00 EDT: ‘The SDGs as the compass for recovering after the pandemic’. Together with participants from the international development community, they will discuss how to better integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a shared blueprint into recovery strategies and how to build global resilience to meet the 2030 Agenda. Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen says: “At global level, by working together as Team Europe – EU institutions, Member States and European public financial institutions – and being guided by the SDGs, we have increased our impact on the way to a sustainable recovery. Team Europe has already mobilised over €40 billion to help partner countries address the economic and social impact of the crisis. Its contribution to COVAX amounts to over €3 billion for access to safe and affordable medicines and vaccines, as well as better preparedness for future pandemics. The EU remains committed to the implementation of the SDGs to make sure that no one is left behind.” Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni says: “The pandemic has significantly challenged progress towards the 2030 Agenda. So more than ever, we have to integrate SDGs across all our policies. Within the EU, we are doing just that with the European Green Deal, the European Semester, our Digital Strategy and the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan. With the proposed policy measures, notably through NextGenerationEU, we are supporting a green and digital transition consistent with the SDGs.” The Sustainable Development Goals are a shared blueprint that will guide the world towards a sustainable recovery. The aim is to advance common objectives and put the world on track to build a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient future. To learn more about the state of play and explore successful stories, challenges and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, participants are invited to register here. The High-Level Political Forum is the main United Nations platform on sustainable development. It has a central role in the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the global level. A monitoring report on progress made towards the SDGs in the EU is available online. 

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