EU2020 ’does not go far enough’ on environment and energy

A draft "EU 2020" strategy proposal has been criticised for coming short of creating a road map to green growth, despite public discourse of gaining a competitive edge in green technology. The European Commission’s draft identifies green growth as one of its three priorities for building a competitive economy by 2020.

The proposal states that: "Europe’s leadership in the race to develop greener and cleaner technology" and improve resource efficiency, while promoting the roll-out of smart electricity grids and EU-wide networks. The Commission proposes three "flagship initiatives" on resource efficiency, clean and efficient energy and an industrial policy for the globalisation era, with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on imported fossil fuels.

Green MEP Claude Turmes (Luxembourg) criticised the draft for not going far enough in environment and energy changes.

Turmes is the vice-president of the Green group in the European Parliament and advocates using the economic crisis as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move to a low-carbon economy. In his view, the document does little to promote environmental technologies and hardly mentions renewable energies. Turmes points out a contradiction, the draft warns that the EU is in danger of losing its leadership on green technologies to the US and China but does not outline any measures to combat this.

"Outside some empty words on ’green growth’, the Barroso proposal is downgrading environment and the big job opportunities linked to investments in green technologies, services and infrastructures," Turmes said.

"Barroso is giving in to pressure from the big energy oligopolies to reopen the battle on stable support schemes for renewable energies, thus threatening one of the only areas where EU is still in industrial leadership," he said.

Turmes specifically criticises the weakness of a draft currently circulating and set to be considered by commissioners at an internal seminar, on 25 February. The final communication on theEU2020 agenda will be presented by the Commission on 3 March. The spring European Council will then, on 25 and 26 March, agree, on the basis of the Commission’s document, on a new strategy.

The strategy emphasises the EU’s existing climate goals for 2020 – to reduce emissions by 20%, boost the share of renewables in the bloc’s energy mix to 20% and reduce energy use by 20%. The EU’s climate and energy package, agreed in 2008, already translated these EU headline targets into national goals on CO2 and renewables, which are legally binding.

Another point that Turmes made is that the strategy lacks social and environmental indicators to measure well-being beyond GDP. Another point of contention is that the text says nothing of the EU’s pledge to move to a 30% emissions reduction target if an international agreement on climate change is brokered.

The Commission said it would propose a trade strategy that will include a proposal in the World Trade organisation (WTO) "to remove all custom-duties on ’green products’ and more intensive cooperation on international standardisation issues. 

The Commission proposal highlights the importance of market-based instruments, emissions trading for example, to combat climate change and makes energy taxation and public procurement rules a priority at EU level.

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