Reasonable greening during the crisis!

At today’s plenary session, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution on an investment plan for the European Green Deal. It is estimated that Europe would need at least € 1 trillion in sustainable investment to achieve climate neutrality over the next decade. According to Fidesz-KDNP MEPs, this can only be done responsibly, taking into account the specificities of the Member States.

MEP Enikő Győri, member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the EP, emphasized that “The EU is committed to becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050.The goal is common, but becoming climate-neutral poses different challenges to all Member States. So far, Hungary has tackled these obstacles in an exemplary fashion: It has already reduced its CO2 emissions by 32% since 1990, while some Member States have increased them. Performance and opportunities vary from country to country, thus it is paramount that the European Union should not impose central dictates but should instead respect the specificities of the Member States”.

The fact that 30% of the EU budget and recovery fund for the next seven years must be spent on combating climate change has already left little room for maneuvering. In addition, the European Parliament would set aside an additional 10% for environmental purposes. In contrast, during a crisis, it would be even more important to provide more room to maneuver. We should now support every viable project so that we can deal as effectively as possible with the negative consequences of the virus in order to save lives, companies and jobs.

Tamás Deutsch, member of the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) and the Committee on Budgets (BUDG), pointed out that “Today, the European Parliament has attempted to mark the only right way to make Europe greener. In this resolution, it managed to include issues that had nothing to do with the original topic, going beyond its institutional powers in many respects. It is particularly worrying that the European People’s Party once again did not find its own voice but simply went along with the left. Because of this, the left-wing majority in the EP can move without resistance to narrow the scope of Member States to an extreme and even dictate how resources are to be spent on combating climate change. Therefore, the Fidesz-KDNP Delegation to the European Parliament, while agreeing with the original objective, abstained in the final vote. As Hungary has already proven, in addition to maintaining competitiveness, it is also possible to move towards climate neutrality within a reasonable framework. We will continue to follow this path.”