Statement by Commissioner Gentiloni at the press conference on the European Green Deal Investment Plan and Just Transition Mechanism

Source: European Commission (EC) i, published on Wednesday, January 15 2020.

Since we presented the European Green Deal i, the horrific fires in Australia have offered more evidence of the devastating risk we are running and the importance of the subject.

Tackling climate change will be the defining task of this Commission and today we moved with a second step after the general roadmap, in delivering on the Green Deal Investment Plan.

The plan is first of all obviously based on funding.

We intend to mobilise at least one trillion euros over the next decade by using the EU i budget to trigger further public and private investments.

Climate and environmental spending under the EU budget will provide €503 billion, in line with the 25% climate mainstreaming target proposed for the next multiannual financial framework.

This in turn will trigger additional national co-financing of €114 billion.

The InvestEU Fund will leverage around €279 billion of private and public green investments, via an EU budget guarantee to reduce the risk for investors.

To leave no one behind, the Just Transition Mechanism will mobilise €143 billion over ten years but, we will reason in terms of the seven years MFF period Johannes and Elisa will present it in a moment.

And funds financed through the Emissions Trading Scheme will provide at least € 25 billion.

This is the composition of the famous trillion of investment, which is a very relevant commitment from our side.

Mobilising EU funds is a necessary but not sufficient step. We also require an enabling framework to ensure that further public and private investments happen.

In that context, this year we will finalise the climate change objectives of the EU Taxonomy. We will also present a renewed sustainable finance strategy and an EU standard for green bonds.

The public sector will need guidance and the appropriate means for making sustainable investments. We intend to provide this guidance through the European Semester, and the related country reports.

The upcoming review of our fiscal framework will include a reference to sustainable public investment in the context of the quality of public finance. I am looking forward to our debate on how to treat sustainable investments within EU fiscal rules, of course preserving safeguards against risks to debt sustainability.

We will also review and possibly revise the relevant State aid rules in light of the policy objectives of the European Green Deal.

Lastly, to effectively execute these investments,

We will need to provide technical assistance, advisory support and capacity building at all levels of public administration, the InvestEU Advisory Hub will support countries, regional authorities, local authorities, in the identification, structuring, procuring and implementation of projects. We need a lot of projects in the pipeline to reach the goals we have established today.

It is crystal clear that the assessment of the investment and the resources we put on the table today through our EU funds are very relevant.

But it is only the first step in a challenging roadmap. We need all actors to make the same effort of aligning their objectives and actions. This is the agenda we will carry forward in the coming months and years, in a spirit, I hope, of unity and common purpose.