France’s debt reduction plan must be more ambitious than what’s already been laid out, French Court of Auditors President and former European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told EURACTIV France in an interview, warning that the country’s public finances were in a particularly poor state.
Member states must look to financing options other than public debt and taxation to support the green transition and free themselves from debt repayments, French financial economist Jézabel Couppey-Soubeyran told EURACTIV France in an interview.
In an interview with EURACTIV, French Industry Minister Roland Lescure underlined the role of big industries in reaching the bloc's climate targets, through the key pieces of legislation moving currently being negotiated at the EU level.
As the EU sets up its response to the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), French industry minister Roland Lescure told EURACTIV that Europe is on the cusp of a “new green industrial revolution” – if only governments are ready to spend the necessary cash.
With its upcoming Battery Directive and carbon border tax, the EU has the opportunity to build the foundations of Europe's future green industrial policy and respond to America’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), says Pascal Canfin.
Following the financing of a new French innovation centre manufacturing electric vehicle batteries, EURACTIV France spoke about the opportunities and challenges for the sector with Ambroise Fayolle, vice president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), and Benoît Lemaignan, the centre's CEO.
With the European Commission due to present its Sustainable Products Action Plan on 30 March, Emmanuel Katrakis takes stock of the EU's push for a more circular economy in an interview with EURACTIV France.
The European Commission is working on a revision of the regulation on recycled plastics for food packaging, which according to Jane Muncke, raises concerns about food safety.
The EU’s proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism is a “legitimate” instrument to consider, and the United States are “exploring it” as well. “It may be a tool that we have no choice but to employ if other countries are not going to be serious enough about reducing carbon,” John Kerry told EURACTIV in an interview.
The European Union’s future carbon border adjustment mechanism must mirror the EU’s own carbon market price and structure in order to be compatible with WTO rules, says Pascal Canfin.
Faced with tight deadlines to programme recovery and new cohesion funds while still implementing projects from the previous budgetary period, EU countries may be tempted to forget about repayable Union assistance, warned Portuguese MEP José Manuel Fernandes, in which case a lot of cheap money would be left on the table.
Jan Huitema, who is in charge of guiding the circular economy strategy through the European Parliament, says his report will include requirements for products to contain a minimum amount of recycled material.
The countries of Central and Eastern Europe do not have the huge human resources of China, but they do have plenty of advantages that must be used after the end of the pandemic, said Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev in an exclusive interview with EURACTIV Bulgaria.
The Green Deal remains a flagship policy of von der Leyen Commission and the EU should aim for a post-COVID-19 recovery that is green and sustainable, Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski told EURACTIV.com in an exclusive interview.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) decided to scrub its loan books of fossil fuels in 2019 but the lender's head of energy policy, Andrew McDowell, insists that there is more to the change of direction than ditching coal and gas.
If Europe goes climate neutral, it will consume more flat glass, predicts Christian Quenett. And the benefits could be huge: simply doubling the replacement rate of windows, in line with the European Green Deal, would achieve 20% of the EU’s energy efficiency targets for 2030, he says.
Cristian Bușoi, the chair of the European Parliament’s industry and energy committee, says MEPs are eager for a far-reaching strategy from the European Commission.
Italy's former finance minister Domenico Siniscalco insists that sustainable finance is going from strength to strength and that it will hold the key to effectively combating climate change. He also believes that compatriot Paolo Gentiloni will play a crucial role.
In an interview with EURACTIV Croatia, German Federal Economy Minister Peter Altmaier spoke about the forthcoming EU presidencies of Croatia and Germany, the controversial zero growth ('Schwarze Null'), and the cooperation with the Western Balkan states.
Europe must adopt an ambitious industrial policy aligned with its climate agenda by investing in clean technologies, and introducing a carbon tariff at the EU’s external border in order to protect industries against environmental dumping, says Bas Eickhout, the lead candidate for the Greens in the European elections.
Healthy and sufficient budgets are prerequisites for the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) investment tools and resources to be used by municipalities and regions, Vazil Hudák told EURACTIV Greece in an interview.
The Juncker Plan has been a "miraculous instrument", and Europe now needs the same paradigm change in development policy. That means moving from social policy to economic development, and from grants to loans. The EU will play a huge role in that shift, Werner Hoyer told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
The unfolding crisis in the coal sector is leaving Poland with a looming power generation gap which is forcing decision-makers to reconsider the country’s energy mix. But politicians have until now delayed hard decisions and a transparent debate about it, says Joanna Maćkowiak Pandera.
Many rural parts of the EU have poor or no broadband internet, even as lawmakers in Brussels discuss new rules to speed up connectivity.
