The fossil fuel sector of the European economy will not be able to receive financial support from the €750 billion Covid-19 recovery fund following a vote by the European Parliament’s environment committee on Monday.
With the vote, the European Parliament’s committee demonstrates its wish for the recovery fund to help the EU’s “green transition” and “not finance fossil fuels”.
The resolution was adopted with 65 Members of Parliament voting in favour of the resolution. 15 voted against, and three MEPs abstained.
It remains to be seen whether the resolution will also be adopted by Member States and the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament as a whole.
Greenpeace EU spokesperson on the green recovery Ariadna Rodrigo stated that though “this is progress”, “the fossil fuel industry still has a lot of allies in the EU Parliament and especially in European governments”.
Opinion by @pcanfin to @EP_Budgets & @EP_Economics on establishing a Recovery and Resilience Facility approved by @EP_Environment with 62 votes to 15
Investment and reforms must focus on challenges and investment needs related to the green transition and not finance fossil fuels https://t.co/xiKC6rOwta — ENVI Committee Press (@EP_Environment) October 13, 2020
The corona recovery fund is part of the EU’s budget plan for the next seven years, which will still need to be approved by both the European Parliament and the European Council.
The approval was scheduled for July, but both parties have not been able to come to an agreement on the total sum of the budget, and disagrees on where the funds should be spent (with the European Parliament calling for more funding for social initiatives).
Last week, the European Parliament walked out of negotiations with the European Council. Negotiations are set to resume on Wednesday.
In total, 25% of the corona recovery fund has been reserved for climate action.
Amée Zoutberg
The Brussels Times
