Nikos Mantzaris gave a speech on the European Green Deal to postgraduate students of the Department of Journalism and Mass Media on Tuesday, April 13, 2021.
In his presentation, he first defined the main pillars of the European Green Deal (EGD) and described the main scientific and political developments of recent years that led to its announcement on 11 December 2019. He then briefly presented the strategies and action plans drawn up by the European Commission since the announcement of the EGD to date, and analyzed in more detail the two European Union legislative initiatives under the EGD: the now-completed European Just Transition Fund Regulation and the EU Climate Law which is currently at the stage of trilogue negotiations between the European Council, the European Commission, and the European Parliament. He explained the challenges of achieving the goal of climate neutrality by 2050, which is the cornerstone of the EGD and the EU Climate Law, and described the sweeping changes it will bring to all sectors of the economy and to European legislation. He concluded his presentation by noting that the EGD has already been politically tested by the pandemic crisis and has strengthened its position as the European Union’s central development strategy en route to climate neutrality by 2050.
A lively discussion followed based on the many questions asked by the students.