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The EU has implemented the world's largest carbon-pricing system, the emissions trading system (ETS). While pricing emissions can encourage industrial decarbonisation, it also risks carbon leakage, whereby EU companies move their production abroad. To date, the EU has mitigated carbon leakage through free allocations to certain industries, but with rising climate ambition and higher carbon prices, the Commission seeks to phase out free allocations. In parallel, a novel carbon border adjustment mechanism ...

This study is an update of ‘Documenting climate mainstreaming in the EU budget’ published in 2020. The methodology used by the European Commission for tracking climate change and biodiversity related expenditure at EU level is reviewed again in the light of the Multiannual Financial Framework approved in 2021 and the new regulatory framework covering the period 2021-2027. This confirms the main strengths and weaknesses pointed out by the initial study. Recommendations for improving the tracking mechanisms ...

In the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe, four European Citizens' Panels have discussed the development of European integration in broad subject areas. For each of the 51 recommendations put forward by European Citizens' Panel 3: Climate change, environment and health, the present paper sets out a selection of the most recent and relevant European Parliament resolutions on the matter and looks at existing EU legislation and other EU funding programmes, supporting and coordinating ...

The EU's commitment to the objectives of the Paris Agreement, and the ambitious European Green Deal, require significant investment. It is estimated that hundreds of billions of euros are needed in the current decade to reach the carbon reduction targets. The EU taxonomy is a classification system that aims to channel public and private investment into environmentally sustainable economic activities in order to achieve environmental objectives, such as those in the fight against climate change. It ...

Based on Commission’s assessments of national Recovery and Resilience Plans, this paper outlines how 2019 and 2020 Country Specific Recommendations covering climate and green transition related issues are being addressed in national plans. It also compiles the Commission’s assessment on how Member States’ national plans contribute to the green transition. The paper will be updated once new relevant information is available.

The IA is based on extensive internal and external research and modelling and covers a lot of ground relating to a variety of potential impacts, both in the main text and the annexes. It is also transparent with regard to the limitations and uncertainties of the analysis. While not all aspects could be assessed in depth, in the interest of proportionality, the IA considers the relevant impacts of the retained options, with a focus on the industrial sectors that were selected for coverage; it addresses ...

The concepts of 'sustainability' and 'resilience' have been steadily gaining prominence in the EU's political discourse. Most recently in 2019, the von der Leyen Commission placed the goal of increased sustainability – environmental, social and economic – at the heart of its European Green Deal set of policy initiatives. As the EU achieves higher levels of sustainability, it will be more resilient, that is, capable of better withstanding a future crisis or shock, whether in the form of another pandemic ...

The IA analyses the nature and scale of the problem, which triggers the revision of the Effort Sharing Regulation. While subsidiarity is suffiicently addressed, the proportionality aspects of the revision are not addressed by the IA. One general and three specific objectives, clearly deriving from the problem, were set up. Three policy options were identified and analysed in detail. The options (and their sub-options) were compared in terms of their potential to achieve the specific objectives, in ...

At a time when the European Union (EU) is preparing a major revision of its climate and energy framework in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal and the targets set in the European Climate Law, this briefing looks at overall progress on climate action. Although the EU met its 2020 targets for reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) and increasing renewable energy use and energy efficiency in the extraordinary context of the coronavirus crisis, pandemic recovery led energy consumption and emissions ...

The year 2019 provided a respite for the European Council from crisis management, but was not without major challenges. Three stood out: the Spitzenkandidaten process for selecting the next President of the European Commission; Brexit, which unexpectedly remained on the agenda of the European Council throughout the year; and policy towards climate change. The European Council had mixed feelings about the Spitzenkandidaten process, with one of its leading members being adamantly opposed. That set ...