France and Germany have joined a growing list of EU countries calling for the European Green Deal to be central to the EU recovery plan after the pandemic. The Green Deal "must be at the heart of a resilient recovery after the corona crisis," wrote the Environment Ministers of 10 EU countries in a recent opinion article published on Climate Home News, a specialized information site.
"We must resist the temptations of short-term solutions in response to the current crisis that could lock the EU into a fossil fuel economy for decades to come," the ministers wrote in the commentary piece.
The appeal was initially signed by the environment ministers of 10 EU countries: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Last Friday they were joined by French Environment Minister Elisabeth Borne, who added her name to the list of signatories.
Svenja Schulze, Germany’s environment minister, soon also added her name, saying she was “happy” to join the call. Greece is expected to join soon as well, bringing the total number of signatories to 13.
During the latest EU summit of heads of government, at the end of March, the premiers asked the European Commission to start drafting “a comprehensive recovery plan” that includes the green and digital transitions. EU climate chief Frans Timmermans has since pledged "to work on a green recovery," emphasizing that clean energy sources play a crucial role in the transition.
In several European countries, voices are emerging to postpone major economic and financial reforms for a while, focusing first on repairing the consequences of the corona crisis. This also includes calls to adjust the Green Deal, the common agricultural policy, and the multiannual budget to the new post-corona situation. Other EU countries, however, believe the EU’s climate neutrality target should not be lost sight of, the European Commission reminded last Wednesday.
‘The lesson from the corona crisis is that early action is essential,’ the Environment Ministers wrote in their opinion piece. “We urge the Commission to use the European Green Deal as a framework” to shape the upcoming EU recovery plan “and to maintain momentum by implementing its initiatives.”
The Eurogroup of finance ministers reached an agreement Thursday on a €540 billion package to help EU countries withstand the economic shock of the COVID-19 outbreak. The EU heads of state and government will now meet on April 23 via videoconference to discuss the next phase of the recovery.