Green Deal funding plans: A small step but a gap still to fill

ECR MEPs have reacted cautiously to the European Commission's green financing plans which were set to be unveiled on Tuesday.

Johan Van Overtveldt, Chair of the Parliament’s Budget Committee said:

“We are absolutely in favour of a more circular economy, but we are against the recycling of promises and money. Creative accounting and financial adventures will not get the Commission very far towards finding the one trillion euros needed to fund their new climate and energy plans.

“In today’s Green Deal funding proposals the Commission make promises against the EU’s yet to be agreed long-term budget and place a sizeable extra burden on the EIB’s shoulders. After that it is not clear exactly where the rest of the money is going to come from - there is a big difference between leveraging money and self-financing.”

Also commenting on the announcements, ECR Group Co-Chair Ryszard Legutko said:

“The Commission’s green transition funding proposals should be seen as a welcome step in the right direction, but they are just that - a step. Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 comes with huge industrial and social costs attached, but what the Commission are proposing doesn’t yet come near to covering them.

“How we close this funding gap will be crucial for our support and the credibility of the EU’s new climate ambitions.”