Federal Climate Minister Zakia Khattabi (Ecolo) asked on Monday for the issue of “burden sharing” to be placed on the agenda of Wednesday’s Consultative Committee meeting.
In the absence of an agreement between the entities, more than €1 billion earned from the auctioning of greenhouse gas emission rights was blocked in an account, she stressed.
Since a cooperation agreement for the period 2021-2030 has not yet been reached, this money, intended for climate policy, remains unused. However, it could be earmarked, for example, for supporting energy savings in homes, the minister recalled.
Negotiations between the regions and the federal government have not yielded an agreement so far. “Faced with the urgency, I have already proposed in the past to distribute it on the basis of the previous agreement’s distribution key,” she recalled.
“It is still possible! But if Minister Zuhal Demir (Flemish Environment Minister), who is chairing the negotiations, is considering a comprehensive agreement, we are ready to continue negotiations as a matter of urgency,” Minister Khattabi added.
“What matters to me is that the funds are made available to families and businesses as soon as possible,” the minister stressed in a press release.
She called on the Consultative Committee, which brings together the federal, regional and community governments, to take up the issue and “give instructions to speed up the negotiations.”
