by Jehdy McMahon, Jeremy Fleming-Jones & Alice Tidey
It’s published •update
It is a mistake for the European Commission to follow French President Emmanuel Macron’s advice to put the brakes on the proposal of climate targets for 2040, Commission’s Vice President Teresa Rivera told Euroneuse’s Europe Today Show on Friday morning.
Rivera, who is in charge of the EU’s Green Transition Portfolio, is set to present her 2040 target after the committee meeting next Wednesday.
The French president raised his opposition to the table of EU executive proposals next week during the EU council summit in Brussels on Thursday, with unusual interventions at the leadership level.
After the summit, he told reporters that the EU should take more time to reach an agreement on new targets, as it “want to make this climate ambition compatible with European competitiveness.”
“We believe in Europe’s potential to respect the commitment of the Paris Agreement and reconcile our ambitious climate agenda and remain competitive. All we need is technical neutrality, ability to invest in trade policy and consistency,” Macron said.
The target is essential for economic and social welfare, Rivera says
“The goal for 2040 cannot be a technical discussion that takes weeks. It must be a democratic discussion at 27 (member states). And I say this because I love Europe.
“I think that’s a mistake,” Rivera told Europe today.
“This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement and we want to identify how we can continue, which we believe is extremely important for Europeans and the economic and social welfare around the world,” Rivera said.
“We want to be a fully decarbonized economy by 2050, and we have identified that we have a goal for 2030, a clear orientation around 2040, and a 90% reduction is a clear goal,” the Spanish commissioner said.
“Then the way we combine the different works, the ultimate flexibility, is something to be discussed, but we are working hard and will present our proposals in the next few days.”
The EU is committed to Net-Zero by 2050 after bringing carbon emissions from 1990 levels to under 55% by the end of the decade. The missing element is the target of 2040, with EU executives being scheduled to table the table last year as well, but were subject to delays.
