Policy Brief: The European Climate Law

In 2021 the European Union will enshrine the legally binding target of climate neutrality by 2050 through the European Climate Law. What are the provisions of the European Climate Law? At what stage are the negotiations between the European institutions? What is the opinion of the interested parties? The answers are included in the policy brief presented by The Green Tank.

The European Climate Law is crucial for the European policy on climate and will influence the transformation of all the sectors of the economy. In order to comply with the new EU climate targets for 2030 and 2050 the EU regulatory framework will have to be amended. The directive on the EU Emissions Trading System, the Effort-sharing Regulation, the regulation on land-use sector (LULUCF) and the directives about energy efficiency and renewable energy will be reformed. Apart from the targets for mitigating climate change, the European Climate Law introduces concretely the importance of climate change adaptation in achieving climate neutrality.

There are a number of issues about the EU climate law on which the co-legislators have contradictory positions and will be discussed during the trilogues. Such issues are:

  • Member states climate neutrality by 2050 individually.
  • The emissions reduction target for 2030, given that the EU Parliament proposes the ambitious target of -60% compared to 1990 levels while the Commission and the Council propose -55%.
  • Greenhouse gas budget to ensure EU reaches Paris goal (proposed by the Parliament).
  • Intermediate targets between 2030 and 2050 (proposed by both Parliament and Council but from a different point of view).
  • The trajectory and the institution responsible for the intermediate target in order to achieve climate neutrality.
  • Independent scientific body set up to monitor progress and policy consistency.
  • The duration of the evaluation cycles included in the progress monitoring.
  • Alignment of  investments and funding with the EU climate law and the phase out of all direct and indirect fossil fuel subsidies by 2025 at the latest.

You can read the complete Policy Brief (in Greek) here.