Ensuring that the EU and Member States have sufficient funds for filling the climate and nature investment gap will require a huge improvement in the quality of public spending (ending fossil fuel and other environmentally harmful subsidies), but also the raising of income. In particular, the EU will need new own resources (i.e. EU-wide revenues) in order, first to reimburse the EU debt that underpins the establishment of Next Generation EU (NGEU), and second to finance a new EU green and social investment plan post-2026.
Beyond the finance dedicated to meeting the EU’s climate targets and financing the socio-ecological transformation, there are also significant gaps in meeting international climate finance commitments. New resources for Member States and/or the EU can be raised through a coordinated introduction of new national taxes or the direct introduction of EU-wide taxes. Whilst several proposals have been tabled both by the European Commission and the European Parliament, and should be further pursued, we consider that new own resources should be based on socially just progressive taxes and the polluter-pays principle.
Positions:
- CAN Europe position on Redistributive taxation
- CAN Europe position on a Tax on Extreme Wealth
- CAN Europe position on a tax on the profits and ownership of the fossil fuel industry
Reports
EU own resources:
- Joint Letter to the Ministers of Economy and Finance on the Own Resources of the EU – January 2026
- Letter to ECOFIN: Progressive Taxation Options as EU Own Resources – June 2025
- Joint Letter to the European Council regarding innovative ways to raise EU Own Resources – March 2025
Taxing fossil fuel profits:
- Taxing fossil fuel profits, not consumers
- Op-ed: Tax fossil fuel windfalls to strengthen Europe’s economy and security
Taxing extreme wealth
Taxing premium flyers
- Letter to Finance, Transport and Climate Ministers on the Solidarity Coalition for Levies on Premium Flyers – October 2025
- Discussion paper: Economy of Tomorrow