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Less than two weeks after taking office, the new President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has unveiled on Wednesday 11 December in the European Parliament its "Green Pact for Europe" to face the climate challenges.
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen wants a paradigm shift. " This is our new growth strategy ," said the head of the European executive on Wednesday presenting her "Green Pact for Europe", ten days after taking office, in full COP25 and on the eve of a major European summit: on the one hand, " reducing greenhouse gas emissions ", on the other " creating jobs and boosting innovation ".
"All sectors concerned"
Convinced that " the old growth model based on fossil fuels and pollution is out of date ", Ursula von der Leyen unveiled "50 actions for 2050", a list of legislative proposals, action plans, strategies, guidelines, covering varied sectors. With the aim of making Europe the carbon neutral ' first continent ' by mid-century.
All sectors will be affected, says our correspondent in Brussels, Joana Hostein : transport, responsible for a quarter of CO2 emissions, food, with a proposal to come to reduce the use of pesticides, construction with legislation on the energy performance of buildings.
The President of the European Commission promises 1,000 billion investments over 10 years. " Some say the cost of processing is too high, but never forget what the cost of non-action would be. Every year, our economies lose 10 billion euros because of the drought, and this is just the beginning ... "
An envelope of 100 billion euros
To help the most vulnerable sectors and regions, the European Commission is also pledging € 100 billion over the next seven years. This envelope, hopefully in Brussels, will convince countries like Poland to engage in this ecological transition, while the country today largely depends on coal for the production of its electricity.
For the President of the Environment Committee of the European Parliament Pascal Canfin, this "Green Pact" is a positive message sent to the world. " The United States is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and we are going to be the first in the world at the continental level to make a binding move towards carbon neutrality in 2050. This is a very important message that is sent especially the most vulnerable countries to say that Europe is serious. Philippe Lamberts, president of the ecologists, welcomes this list of good intentions, but is waiting to see. " So far, not only are the Union's commitments insufficient, but they are not required, " he criticizes.