EU funds

The briefing "Eco- Schemes: The novel tool of the CAP Green Architecture" published by SEO/BirdLife under the UNIFY project, looks into the eco-schemes in Spanish CAP Strategic Plan.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) provides member states a large-scale financial support for public investments and reforms to support the relaunching of ailing economies in the short term, but also the creation of more sustainable and resilient societies for the future. To do so, RRF funding must also be allocated to address the other, […]

The EU’s post-2022 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will play a crucial role in tackling the climate crisis. While the trilogues are ongoing between the EU legislators, Member States have already started developing their national CAP Strategic Plans. Unify project partners assessed five Member States’ draft Strategic Plans. The report reveals that the national Strategic Plans would require serious revisions, if the Member States are to deliver their climate, energy and biodiversity objectives under the European Green Deal.

Member States are currently developing their plans on how to spend the EU’s long-term budget 2021-2027, together with its recovery instrument (Next Generation EU). Unify project partners and CAN Europe members assessed 16 Member States’ draft spending plans to see whether they live up to the Green Deal promises and put over 50 “good, bad and ugly” measures included in those draft plans to a public vote. Europeans have voted for the top measures that should be replicated, the biggest missed opportunities to be urgently addressed and the ugliest projects that should be scrapped. 

Member States are currently developing their EU funds spending plans to demonstrate to the European Commission how they are going to use the unprecedented amounts of EU budget and recovery funds. A campaign by Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, as a part of its Unify project, identifies climate and environmental friendly and harmful practices that 13 Member States and regions plan to finance from the EU’s purse.

The new briefing published by the Unify project partners across Europe underlines the importance of a climate- friendly Common Agriculture Policy to ensure that the agriculture sector contributes to the objectives of the European Green Deal and the EU’s commitments under the Paris Agreement. This document, coming out during the trialogue negotiations between the European Commission, the Parliament and the Council, assesses the weaknesses of the current CAP and explains what needs to happen for the new CAP reform to contribute to the EU’s climate ambition.

A new report published under Unify project identifies concrete investment proposals as listed in National Energy and Climate Plans (NECP) of 14 Member States to be funded in order to ensure a green recovery. The report titled “EU Funds for a Green Recovery”, comes right after the president of the European Council Charles Michel’s proposal to increase the climate spending target of EU funds from 25% to 30%, and makes it clear that if the EU funds are used wisely, they could both ensure a green recovery and boost climate ambition.

To recover from the Covid-19 crisis and fight the climate one, French regions have to implement strong structural policies, making our societies more resilient and sharply reducing greenhouses gas emissions. Unify projet partner, Réseau Action Climat France, calls French regions to use the opportunity of recovery plans to invest in the ecological transition. Supporting low emission mobility, house renovation, the development of renewable energies and the transformation of the industry require the reorientation of all financial tools, including EU funds. This would create new jobs, strengthen the local economy and decrease the level of emissions of these activities. Besides mitigation, regions must begin to adapt to climate change.

This report analyses the 2014-2020 spending programme of French regional authorities and draws recommendations for the remaining 5.9 billion to be spent until the end of 2020 and for the elaboration of the next programmes (for 2021-2027). It also identifies the right priorities and the key sectors to target in a truly ecological recovery plan. The report underlines that French regions do not use EU funds enough for the ecological transition: only 30% of the ERDF envelope is dedicated to sustainable mobility and energy transition, which does not fill the gaps in investment needs and recommends that at least 50% of the European funds, especially the ERDF, should be directed towards the ecological transition for the next EU budget period.

Transitioning to climate neutrality requires bold long-term investments in clean energy infrastructure. And public and private investments into energy efficiency and renewable energy are key to ensuring a sustainable economic recovery out of the current crisis. However, a new report shows how little EU countries use existing EU regional development funds for this purpose. With the EU budget best placed to support the sustainable economic recovery, Member States must make climate action a much bigger priority of future EU funds spending.