The European Commission Wants Extra Energy Chapter in EU Countries Recovery Plans
The European Commission wants EU member states to adjust their corona recovery plans to get rid of Russian energy as soon as possible and accelerate greening in the European Union, insiders say in Brussels.
They should add an energy chapter about how and how much they want to invest in, for example, energy conservation, the production of clean energy and the diversification of energy suppliers. The extra money from Brussels is available for this.
The daily EU board wants to use the corona recovery fund to make it more sustainable and to become less dependent on ‘unreliable partners’, as the committee states. It was established by EU leaders in 2020 to cushion the economic impact of the pandemic. There are still about 225 billion euros in undrawn loans. The committee also proposes to auction 20 billion euros in extra emission permits and transfer more than 52 billion euros in subsidies from the European agricultural and cohesion funds.
According to EU sources, the commission will ask member states to indicate quickly whether they want to make use of this investment aid. Without the new energy chapter, there would be an estimated 4.7 billion euros in subsidies for the Netherlands. The Netherlands has so far waived loans from the corona recovery fund.
The committee is still negotiating with Poland and Hungary about their corona recovery plan submitted a year ago. The recovery plans of 24 countries have already been approved. They should submit an annex on the intended investments in the energy transition as soon as the rule comes into effect.
