MEPs fail to exclude fossil gas from the EU recovery fund

The two lead-committees of the European Parliament failed to fully exclude fossil gas from the scope of the 672,5 billion euro Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), contradicting the Parliament’s multiple earlier commitments to end fossil fuel subsidies or the recent call for 60% greenhouse gas emission cuts in the EU by 2030.

Early October, the European Parliament decided to increase the level of the EU 2030 climate target to 60% emission cuts, a significant step forward. Later, its Environment Committee showed consistency by agreeing to exclude fossil fuels from the 672,5 billion euro recovery fund to boost the clean transition needed to meet a higher emission reductions target.

However, MEPs from the Budget and Economic Affairs Committees created exemptions for certain fossil gas projects, despite over a hundred MEPs standing in favour of excluding them from the fund to allow the EU to honour its climate commitments.

Markus Trilling, finance and subsidies policy coordinator at Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe said:
“The European Parliament is two-faced on climate action. While declaring a climate emergency and calling for a much-needed increase in climate ambition, it also allows for more fossil fuel subsidies from the EU budget.”

Trilling added: “If the Parliament wants to merit its climate credits, MEPs will have to exclude all fossil fuels from the entire EU budget, Cohesion Policy, Just Transition and Recovery funding in particular.”

Esther Bollendorff, EU gas policy coordinator at CAN Europe said: “The EU should put its finite financial resources into energy efficiency and the energy source – renewables – that could truly fuel its recovery. Putting public money in fossil gas is like falling in a dangerous, dirty and expensive pipe-trap. Fossil gas has no role in a Europe transitioning towards climate neutrality”.

ENDS

Contact:
Nicolas Derobert, Head of communications, nicolas@caneurope.org, +32 483 62 18 88