European climate pact - Pre-legislative synthesis of national, regional and local positions on the European Commission's initiative

Briefing 26-10-2020

This briefing forms part of an EPRS series offering syntheses of the pre-legislative state of play and consultation on key European Commission priorities during the current five-year term. It summarises the state of affairs in the relevant policy field, examines how existing policy is working on the ground, and, where possible, identifies best practice and ideas for the future on the part of governmental organisations at all levels of European system of multi-level governance. Based on EPRS analysis, partner organisations at European, national, regional and local levels point to the following main considerations that they consider should shape discussion of the forthcoming European climate pact: * In the area of energy-efficient building, the climate pact would offer added value in better coordinating the roles and responsibilities of different governmental levels, so as to increase the return on investment that would be felt by citizens. This could, for instance, be achieved by focusing investment on the largest energy consumers, such as public hospitals, schools and social housing. * In terms of low-carbon mobility, the climate pact would provide a platform to exchange ideas regarding the appropriate level of taxation for carbon-intensive means of transport, further tax reforms in the EU Member States to remove fossil fuel subsidies, and a shift of the tax burden towards polluters. * When it comes to working together on climate change, the climate pact would facilitate multi-level cooperation to ensure that the shared goals of climate neutrality translate into concrete action at the local and regional levels, which will eventually be responsible for implementing them, by 2050. This would in particular require improved integration of existing consultation strategies and developing new tools, including comparable geographical maps online. The overall input received indicates that the EU level is expected to set the standards in climate policy through 'shared leadership'. At the same time, each level of governance, from small isolated communities to large cities, and from regional governments and national parliaments to EU institutions, has generated concrete ways to contribute in this process, often by providing examples of good practice and lessons learnt, which could be applied and adapted across the EU.