A legal opinion of the European Parliament's legal service requested by ECR MEPs Alexandr Vondra and Anna Zalewska has found the Commission's attempted use of “delegated acts” to reach emission targets under the Green Deal to be incompatible with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

“The Commission is trying to act beyond its mandate. It is important that the impact on legislation is determined not only by the European Commission, but also by Member States and MEPs who have been elected by their citizens,” said Alexandr Vondra MEP, ECR Coordinator for the Environment Committee.

ECR’s Anna Zalewska MEP, Shadow Rapporteur for the European Climate Law and co-initiator of the assessment added: “The Commission simply cannot sideline the co-legislators from lawmaking. What we need now is a discussion among the Commission, the Parliament, and the Council about the EU’s emissions targets and find a realistic way forward that does not undermine the Union’s Treaties.”

In the draft Climate Law, the European Commission has provided for itself the right to decide on the trajectory of achieving climate neutrality after 2030 by means of delegated acts. From the beginning, this raised concerns that the Commission wanted to set targets for Member States through a procedure without involving them. The Climate Law project is a flagship project of Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans.

In a letter last week, ECR MEPs supported by colleagues from other groups had called the Presidents of the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament, that the fight against COVID-19, together with the adaptation of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), should be a priority for the EU and to postpone legislative initiatives for the Green Deal.

“We first need a way out of the COVID-19 crisis. Today, we are not yet able to determine the extent of it, but we know that the costs will be huge. There is no time to reach climate neutrality at an express pace,” Mr. Vondra added.

ENDS

Link to the legal opinion: https://www.politico.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Climate-law-paper-NON_PAPER.pdf?utm_source=POLITICO.EU&utm_campaign=f5796fe555-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_04_01_02_07&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_10959edeb5-f5796fe555-190002241