With 553 votes to 130, and 7 abstentions the Parliament confirmed the December 2021 agreement reached with Council on the eighth General Union Environment Action Programme. This program (EAP) will guide the EU’s environmental policy up to 2030 and align it to the EU’s global strategy. European Green Deal.
Priority objectives for the eighth EAP
These six thematic priority goals will be met by 2030:
Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies and other environmentally harmful subsidies
To strengthen positive incentives and gradually end the use of environmentally harmful subsidies, EU will create a binding legislative framework to monitor progress by member states in eliminating fossil fuel subsidies. It should also establish a deadline for reducing public aid to these environmentally damaging sources of energy. This is in line with the goal of limiting global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The Commission will present a method to identify other environmentally harmful subsidies by 2023 and report on progress made by member states towards their elimination.
Improved governance mechanism
The Commission shall annually assess, monitor and report on the progress made in meeting the priority targets by the EU and its member states. To guide policymaking, the text includes a new summary dashboard with indicators that measure progress beyond GDP. The EU institutions shall discuss both future plans and actions every year. If the Commission determines that there is more work to be done in order to reach the priority targets by 2030, it should present a legislative proposal.
To reduce the risk of non-compliance, EU, national, regional, and local authorities must also implement effective and dissuasive penalties.
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Grace OSullivan (Greens/EFA/IE), raporteur, said that the eighth EAP has made a Wellbeing Economy a priority target for 2030. This is a first in EU Law and a significant step in moving away form the obsessive, unsustainable emphasis on GDP growth to what the pandemic has shown us is most important: the wellbeing and well-being of our people and planet. This is a positive example showing the kind of systemic changes that are necessary to reach our goal of living well within our planet’s limits.
Next steps
The legal text will be officially adopted by the Council and published in the Official Journal of the EU, entering into effect 20 days later.
Background
EU EAPs are legally binding guidelines that have guided the development and implementation of EU environmental policy since the 1970s. The Seventh EAP will expire at the end 2020. The new one will last until 31 Dec 2030.
