EU development programming for biodiversity and climate must heed people’s voices

Dear Members of the European Parliament, During the upcoming Commissioner-designate hearings, we urge you to champion the creation of a Next Generation 2.0 fund to foster Europe’s transformation in response to the ongoing polycrises and geopolitical challenges.

We are deeply concerned about the return of overly restrictive fiscal policy. The final compromise on the reform of the EU economic governance due to be voted on by the European Parliament and the Council is multiplying unsubstantiated and arbitrary numerical benchmarks, which will trigger a wave of cuts to public budgets across Europe. Several countries, such as Germany, France and Denmark, have already cut or are planning to cut green investment and social spending for 2024 and 2025.

Open letter to Prof. Mario Draghi, former Italian Prime Minister and former President of the European Central Bank European competitiveness report, signed by Chiara Martinelli, Director of Climate Action Network (CAN)