EU Policy News

EU Cohesian funds thunnel € 105 bln to clean local development

European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Daniela Hübner announced on March 9, 2009 that €105 billion will be invested in the “green economy” through the EU Cohesion Policy. The funding represents more than 30% of the regional policy budget for 2007-2013. Commissioner Hübner said: “Support for the green economy and the environment goes hand-in-hand with the Cohesion Policy’s objective to deliver sustainable growth, jobs and competitiveness. In a difficult financial climate, this investment will be instrumental in creating long-term employment and reviving local economies, as well as underpinning the EU’s commitment to the fight against climate change.”The €105 billion dedicated to green projects and jobs is almost three times greater than the sum allocated in the 2000-2006 budgetary period. A large part of the envelope (€54 billion) is designed to help Member States to comply with EU environmental legislation.

With €48 billion targeted at measures aimed at achieving EU climate objectives and creating a low carbon economy, the Cohesion Policy is making a considerable contribution to these goals. This includes €23 billion for railways, €6 billion for clean urban transport, €4.8 billion for renewable energies and €4.2 billion for energy efficiency. The EU Parlaiment is expected to adopt the Commission proposal on expanding the use of EU Structural funds for eneegry efficiency and renewable funding.  Nearly half of the Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the UK) have integrated indicators for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions into their Cohesion Policy programmes. France, for example, has developed a unique carbon evaluation tool to monitor CO₂ emissions produced by all projects funded with EU support. A detailed overview of the speicifc amounts that will go to EU Member States can be found here.

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Positive Discussion on ETS and Energy Efficiency

The meeting of Energy ministers in Denmark on Friday 20 April 2012 concluded by reaching an agreement on the approach recommended by the European Commission in its energy roadmap to 2050. Europe’s energy future will involve higher efficiency, more renewables and infrastructure upgrades, they said.
The ministers backed the roadmap’s ‘no regret’ options, which the commission says would apply to all decarbonisation scenarios envisaged in the document, regardless of the choices made by member states.

..read more Updated 24 Apr, 2012

EU Parliament adopts report on EC proposal for a new Energy Tax Directive

On April 19 the EU Parliament adopted the report of Luxemburg’s MEP Astrid Lulling (EPP), and Swedish shadow Rapporteur, Olle Ludvigson (S&D)

..read more Updated 19 Apr, 2012

MEPs to vote on Energy Taxation Directive

MEPs will today vote  on the proposal for revision of the 2003 Energy Taxation Directive (ETD) following a report by Astrid Lulling (EPP, Luxembourg) in Strasbourg last night. The revision marks the introduction of CO 2 in the taxation of energy products and electricity and the end of the special status given to diesel fuel and unleaded petrol.   The proposal, presented by the European Commission in 2011, constitutes the response to the EU summit’s 2008 request to align the European Union’s energy and climate change objectives. Under the revision, taxation would be based not only on energy content but also on the CO 2 content of energy products, and would include a minimum level for CO 2. Member states will therefore have to make a clear distinction between the two components: taxation of CO 2 and taxation of the energy source. The text also provides for abolishing the reductions granted for diesel fuel for professional use as well as the preferential price for unleaded petrol. More generally, it does away with the existing distinction between commercial and private use of energy products to produce heat and electricity. While maintaining a degree of flexibility, including the possibility for member states to levy more than one tax on energy consumption, [...]

..read more Updated 19 Apr, 2012