A new budget for a new Europe
Right now Europe’s leaders are planning how to spend hundreds billions of euros that will be the new EU budget after 2020. The EU budget can and should play an important role in protecting the environment and climate, driving sustainable development and leading a low-carbon transformation across central and eastern Europe and beyond – here’s how:
The Budget is a proven tool in the fight against climate change, and the European Commission is proposing that one in every four euros be spent on climate action. But what about the other three quarters of the trillion euro Budget? The scale of investments needed to transform Europe’s society such that it meets the ambitious goals of the 2050 climate and energy targets is so massive that we cannot afford one cent more on projects like fossil fuels that block from this pathway.
A visionary Budget that is placed-based and participatory can transform the regions of Europe regions that need it most, especially those in central and eastern Europe that are overly reliant on coal. The right combination of incentives and conditions is needed, with a focus on investments in clean energy, thermal retrofits and targets for homes generating their own renewable energy. Incentives are also needed to compensate for the political costs of pursuing such investments, especially in places that depend heavily on mining but are moving away from coal.
The added value of the Budget in promoting EU values, policies and legislation is key to enhancing citizens’ belief in the European project. Yet unaccountable and untransparent spending results in harmful investments that erodes this trust. The next Budget should enable citizen participation in the design, spending and monitoring of all investments and programmes, and offer the possibility for redress when Budget spending fails to live up to this potential. The Budget should take inspiration from local communities who are finding their own solutions to the climate crisis and leading the just transition.
For nearly three decades, the EU budget, and especially sectoral instruments like the Cohesion Policy, have been a proven catalyst in the fight against climate change and the transition to a low-carbon energy system. By providing public investments in cleaner transport, energy and construction, which are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) can shape our response to the challenges posed by climate change.
We are currently debating the EU budget for the years 2021-2027, at a time when it has never been more urgent to invest heavily in clean energy and low-carbon technologies.
To ensure that the next budget works for the climate and for the people, it should follow the basic principles highlighted in our vision for the next Budget: climate should be at the forefront of any spending, aimed at achieving the 2030 energy objectives; funds should be disbursed in a transparent manner, and should enable the involvement of local actors and communities.
From Europe’s municipalities to Brussels corridors
With the help of our member groups, our work stretches from local to international level.
Our decades of experience in monitoring EU spending shows:
– Highly problematic investments deemed as ‘climate-friendly’ because of the inconsistent and incomplete definitions of ‘climate mainstreaming’ in Slovakia and the Baltics;
– Lack of strong accountability and transparency provisions enabling the misuse of EU funds in Bulgaria and Latvia;
– Smart use of EU funds unlocking the potential of the countries to achieve their 2030 climate and energy targets in the Czech Republic;
… and more.
Case studies
Across central and eastern Europe a number of examples demonstrate how well spent EU funds can support the transformation to a clean energy system. Most of these projects are happening at the local level and show what a citizen-led transformation should look like.
Community biomass production, Slovakia
Primary school renovation, the Czech Republic
Largest residential renovations, Latvia
The energy efficient city in the Czech coal region
From pastures to industrial areas, Romania
Just transition – no one should be left behind
Training for partnership, Latvia
… But poor planning and projects without community support often create problems for the environment and local people and give EU funds a bad name. We are working to change that.
A motorway destroys a pristine gorge in Bulgaria
European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)
Climate’s enfants terribles
A dubious tram divides Riga
Sofia waste incineration, Bulgaria
EU funds hall of shame
Slicing the S7 motorway, Poland
Revitalising after mining, Slovakia
Rail Baltica, Estonia
LATEST UPDATES
Boost for Cohesion funding can speed EU recovery with concrete guidance on how to spend it
Press release | 27 May, 2020Brussels – The European Commission’s pandemic recovery package is a welcomed boost for cohesion and the energy transformation in countries that need it most, but progress will only come with clear guidance for how this money is spent.
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Uphill battle for Commission to bring Member States in line with new Biodiversity Strategy
Press release | 20 May, 2020The European Commission’s new Biodiversity Strategy 2030 published today has the right tools in place to safeguard nature but only if it can enforce the laws that Member States have at times skirted with impunity in the past, says CEE Bankwatch Network.
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Assessment of waste incineration capacities in the Upper Nitra region
Blog entry | 26 March, 2020A new study commissioned by Friends of the Earth-CEPA and Bankwatch estimates that a planned waste incinerator in Novaky, Slovakia will not solve energy, climate or waste issues. According to the analysis, it will be almost impossible for the plant to meet supply quotas and new recycling targets. Considering the high level of CO2 emissions from waste incineration, this solution will furthermore continue to pollute the environment while also preventing Slovakia from investing in renewables.
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LATEST PUBLICATIONS
Financing the low carbon transition in Romania
Publication | 21 February, 2020Romania is the country in the South East European and Central East European with the best enabling conditions for the energy transition. Yet it continues to be one of the lignite intensive countries in the EU. Read our report to explore why on the European scale, Romanians still pay more than their European counterparts for the costs of this carbon intensive energy system.
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Analysis of biomass in NECPs
Publication | 14 June, 2019This publication analyses the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) in Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia and these countries’ measures to support forms of wood biomass. The majority of these countries plan logging an
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Waste incineration with energy recovery in the NECPs of Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia
Publication | 4 June, 2019Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia all plan to expand the use of waste incineration to generate energy (mostly heat) as part of their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). These plans will lead to much higher greenhouse gas emissions (
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