Michael Forte

MFF negotiations - the end of the beginning? With all eyes on support for Ukraine's reconstruction and the Mercosur agreement, one of the items on yesterday's EUCO agenda could potentially slip under the radar. On 18 December, EU leaders had the...

My write-up of where the EU budget negotiations stand, following the last #EUCO of the year: www.linkedin.com/pulse/mff-ne...

Making national strategies in the EU investable Achieving a sustainable transition for a competitive Europe depends on national strategies that give the private sector confidence and direction.

📢 New E3G x @eccoclimate.bsky.social report: how credible private sector plans can help build more “investable” national transition strategies.

Explore the insights: www.e3g.org/publications...

Sandra Tzvetkova and I round up five things climate watchers should pay attention to in the #MFF proposals. The last thing to read before going on holiday, the first thing to read when you come back!

Deciphered some Commission prose on #2040ClimateTarget flexibility for @carbonbrief.org

European Commission releases proposal for a 90% emissions reduction target by 2040 The 90% target puts the EU on course towards climate neutrality by 2050 and gives predictability on the way forward.

propositionem habemus
www.e3g.org/news/eu-2040...

@neilmakaroff.bsky.social and I might have advocated for the 2040 target to be discussed at EUCO. Just not this way.

A debate on how the target boosts competitiveness, investments, innovation, affordability and enabling policies to reach is required. Not to ditch 2040.

pro.politico.eu/news/200907

❗BREAKING: French President Macron is putting the EU 2040 climate target agreement at risk❗

More info: www.bankier.pl/wiadomosc/Fr... (In PL)

🗣️ @harmeling.bsky.social reacts:

Je ne sais vraiment pas par où commencer. Voici comment le gouvernement français veut souhaiter bon anniversaire à l'Accord de Paris:

Improving climate and energy policy coordination through the next EU budget With the right changes, the EU's multiannual financial framework can become a much more effective tool to pursue common priorities such as climate and security.

7/7 I develop this argument in more detail in this briefing for @e3g.bsky.social: www.e3g.org/publications...

6/7 So, "national and regional partnerships for investment and reforms" could be an opportunity to kick-start horizontal planning for the 2030-2040 period, as the RRF did for 2020-2030. But only if they draw on the work that has already been done for the NECPs.

5/7 NECP enforcement via infringement procedure is fraught. The reform & investment plan model offers a way through - deliver on the plan, get the money. With the right guardrails, this could incentivise more serious, whole-of-government planning for the energy transition.

4/7 NECPs are varying in quality, depending on how seriously Member States undertake this whole-of-government planning exercise. But they offer a template for multiannual planning in line with the European Climate Law (net-zero) and international commitments.

3/7 The National energy and climate plans (NECPs) are a completely separate exercise undertaken by govts to outline how they will reach their energy & climate targets (energy efficiency, renewables, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, interconnections, research and innovation).

2/7 Tying EU spending to national reforms is not new, it was a feature of the #RRF.
The National recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) were supposed to address country-specific recommendations issued by the EU, but also incorporate other existing planning exercises, notably the NECPs.

At the 2025 Annual Budget Conference, @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu just confirmed that the Commission will propose "national and regional partnerships for investments and reforms" (NRPIR?) for the next #EUBugdet. What could this new set of reform plans mean for energy & climate?
Some thoughts: 1/7

Improving climate and energy policy coordination through the next EU budget With the right changes, the EU's multiannual financial framework can become a much more effective tool to pursue common priorities such as climate and security.

🔋 How can the EU budget accelerate decarbonisation & build a greener & resilient economy?

Key reforms to the Multiannual Financial Framework are crucial:
- boosting synergies
- aligning national plans
- simplifying governance
- & empowering local action

Read @e3g.bsky.social's briefing👇

Improving climate and energy policy coordination through the next EU budget With the right changes, the EU's multiannual financial framework can become a much more effective tool to pursue common priorities such as climate and security.

🧵The EU’s next budget offers a key opportunity to enhance climate and energy policy coordination. We explore how better governance of the Multiannual Financial Framework (#MFF) can support #decarbonisation and a greener, more resilient economy.

🔗Read the full briefing: www.e3g.org/publications...

The European Commission reveals a clumsy forward agenda Today, the European Commission unveiled key pieces to set the direction of the European economy in times of crisis.

8/8 E3G's full analysis of the #CleanIndustrialDeal #CID , together with the first #Omnibus simplification package and the #AffordableEnergyActionPlan is available here: www.e3g.org/news/the-eur...

Quote from p.21 of the Clean Industrial Deal Furthermore, competition policy plays a crucial role in protecting citizens' rights against excessive power, including in the digital realm, ensuring that new players operate fairly and do not concentrate economic and strategic power unduly.

7/8 Lastly, this section includes a dig at monopolies, in particular Big Tech. Good to see that competition policy may look more closely at the distributional impacts of monopolistic behaviour. Could this be linked to ongoing supermarket boycotts in the Balkans? (balkaninsight.com/2025/01/31/w...)

6/8 On social leasing for clean tech, the experience from the French EV leasing scheme shows increased uptake among young people and low-income households (www.transportenvironment.org/uploads/file...), but this is also a tool of industrial policy to boost demand.

5/8 The lessons of the US #InflationReductionAct start to be reflected in the proposals on public procurement and State aid rules reform, thanks to campaigning from unions and CSOs: COM commits to explore training and skills conditionalities for firms receiving subsidies or public contracts.

4/8 The #QualityJobsRoadmap (Q4 2025) takes onboard some elements of a #JustTransitionDirective, a framework to anticipate change. But as @etuc-ces.bsky.social argues, reskilling cannot benefit workers without a right to training during working hours (etuc.org/en/pressrele...)

3/8 #UnionofSkills (Q1 2025): a strategy "to enhance the EU’s competitiveness and preparedness”. Measures are limited to soft law (such as on skills recognition, or quality jobs), with a passing reference to additional funding from Erasmus+.

2/8 Though the section is framed around social fairness and the just transition, there is a clear focus on skills. Skills shortages are a central concern of the #DraghiReport and the #CompetitivenessCompass - social rights and the distributional impacts of decarbonisation not so much.

Screenshot of page 20 of the Clean Industrial Deal 7. Skills and quality jobs for social fairness and a just transition Every person, community, and business should benefit from the clean transition. The Clean Industrial Deal therefore commits to a just transition that delivers quality jobs and empowers people, building on their skills, while promoting social cohesion and equity across all regions. Our industry needs a skilled workforce and must offer quality jobs to attract top talent. Keeping workers and local communities at the centre of the industrial transformation, harnessing talents and further building up needed skills is essential for a successful clean transition. At the same time, the clean and digital transition also means shifts in the workforce and new requirements for skills.

What does the #CleanIndustrialDeal 's section on jobs and skills tell us about how the "new" Commission leadership understands workers' place in the industrial transition?
A thread 🧵 1/8

The European Commission reveals a clumsy forward agenda Today, the European Commission unveiled key pieces to set the direction of the European economy in times of crisis.

With our expertise across #CleanIndustrialDeal #CID, the first #Omnibus simplification package and the #AffordableEnergyActionPlan, here's E3G's overall take: the EU now has a forward agenda, but it's a clumsy one.
www.e3g.org/news/the-eur...

This is the issue with the Commission choosing to focus on the reform side of the RRF and ignore the huge leap in size of NGEU. This carrot is much smaller. Two options: 1. more money, or 2. an innovative, yet-to-defined mechanism that somehow creates reforms buy-in without cash.

📆 One year ago today, the EU Commission proposed a 2040 emissions target

Since then?
❌ No Climate Law amendments
❌ No 2035 target
❌ No NDC

We are tired of waiting!

#ClimateActionNow #2040Target

🔗 caneurope.org/2040-communi...

When Donald Tusk tells us that "Europe should not be fearful", this is the kind of data we should have in mind. 🌄
Decarbonising is happening, it's saving us money and it's making us more resilient. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

The Advisory Board’s 2025 Work Programme

The 🇪🇺 Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change #ESABCC has published its 2025 work programme. Looking forward to robust and independent recommendations on
- CO₂ removals 💨
- Climate mitigation in agriculture 🚜
- Climate adaptation & resilience ☂️
climate-advisory-board.europa.eu/news/the-adv...