Navigating the complexities of EU funds: Bulgaria’s struggle
June 13, 2025
The mid-term review was intended as a mechanism to address implementation issues and reallocate resources to priority areas. In reality, however, it has taken a very different turn.
Vulnerable households at risk: Central and eastern European countries struggle to finalise national social climate plans
June 13, 2025
With just weeks to go before the European Commission’s deadline for national social climate plan submissions, a new analysis by E3G and Bankwatch reveals alarmingly uneven progress across central and eastern Europe. Examining the state of play in eight EU Member States, the report highlights persistent transparency gaps, weak stakeholder engagement, and protracted delays.
Climbing together: Is the Social Climate Fund working for those who need it most?
June 13, 2025
This report evaluates the quality of stakeholder involvement and the design of national social climate plans in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.
Bulgaria’s opportunity to address energy and transport poverty: The Social Climate Fund challenge
June 4, 2025
The European Union’s Social Climate Fund presents Bulgaria – one of the EU’s poorest Member States – with a significant opportunity to tackle energy and transport poverty. Under this funding instrument, the country has been allocated a total of EUR 2.5 billion for the 2026–2032 period. However, concerns are mounting that weak planning, institutional resistance to reform, and a lack of transparency could prevent this funding from reaching the people who need it most.
Latvia’s cohesion policy at a crossroads: Balancing security priorities and green investments
May 14, 2025
Latvia is rethinking how it allocates its EU cohesion policy funds, as growing security concerns linked to the regional geopolitical climate put pressure on previously agreed green investment priorities. But will this shift towards national defence undermine the country’s long-term environmental and climate goals?
Letter to EC President Von der Leyen calling to uphold climate, nature and public health priorities in the next EU budget
May 8, 2025
Letter to EC President Von der Leyen calling to uphold climate, nature and public health priorities in the next EU budget.
Proposals for the next EU budget
April 24, 2025
Our current crises stem from the environmental and social injustices of past decades. It is therefore essential that we learn from current EU budget instruments to create a coherent, strategic, enforceable and accessible framework for the next EU budget.
The need for phasing out peat to reduce climate crises: Latvia’s challenges and opportunities
March 25, 2025
The most significant uses of peat in the world are for the creation of soil substrates and the production of energy. In 2022, the peat sector was responsible for 10.7 per cent of Latvia’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Peatlands store twice as much carbon as forests worldwide.
Reforming with purpose: A checklist of reforms and investments for the EU’s national social climate plans
March 12, 2025
National social climate plans are a critical component of the EU’s efforts to ensure a fair and equitable transition to climate neutrality, helping to counterbalance the adverse impacts of the EU’s second Emissions Trading System on the most vulnerable.
Towards Green Cohesion seminar – Key demands
February 4, 2025
This document presents key recommendations for shaping the future of the EU’s post-2027 cohesion policy.
