Exclusive€700bn for climate and environment in the next MFF: the European Commission breaks it down to News Tank

How the €700 Bn budget for climate and environment will be distributed in the next MFF

€700 Bn accounts for more or less 35% of the EU's next MFF. This sum will be dedicated to the climate and environment, but News Tank asked the Commission under which pillars and programmes of the MFF these funds will be allocated. Their answer gives an overview of which climate and environmental priorities will benefit most from it:

• "The proposed single ‘green’ spending target reflects a strategic and integrated approach to climate and environmental challenges, highlighting the fact that many interventions deliver simultaneous benefits across multiple green dimensions. For instance, Nature-based solutions for climate adaptation often deliver substantial biodiversity gains; clean transport or renewable energy projects can also improve air quality and contribute to climate mitigation.

The 35% climate and environment spending target reflects an integrated approach that covers all environmental dimensions of the EU Taxonomy: climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience, biodiversity, water and marine, pollution prevention, and circular economy."

• For each of the programmes, the expenditures will need to match the objectives of the dedicated funds. For example, funds allocated under the ‘National and Regional Partnership Plans' Regulation’ "shall contribute to the specific objectives of the regulations", while "taking into account the challenges of the Member State concerned" and being consistent "with national energy and climate plans (NECPs) and national restoration plans".

How will LIFE activities be integrated into the next MFF

Several environmental NGOs expressed their concerns about the fact that the LIFE programme will not be renewed in the next MFF, representing a financing gap of 5,4 Bn compared to the previous MFF (2021-2027). News Tank asked the Commission how the activities previously funded through this programme will subsist in the next MFF. Here are the Commission's answers:

• "To ensure continuity, the Commission has proposed integrating existing LIFE activities into the National and Regional Partnership Plans and the EU Facility, and into the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF). The integration of the LIFE programme into those funding instruments is expected to create new synergies between environmental investments and other political priorities."

• The funding of civil society organisations in the next MFF will be managed by the Commission through the EU Facility, it explains. "The EU facility will support LIFE actions at the EU level that will address, among others, environmental policy priorities with a cross-border or transnational dimension."

• Additionally, "National and Regional Partnership plans will provide support to strategic projects for climate and environment, as under the current LIFE programme", while "the European Competitiveness Fund is expected to support LIFE-type activities focused on innovation and competitiveness under the ‘Clean Transition and Industrial Decarbonisation’ window." The Commission adds that "previously supported LIFE projects in areas such as the circular economy, zero pollution and water efficiency will now align with the themes of this window."

• To conclude, the Commission said it is hopeful that "the new financial architecture of the MFF, together with the environment and climate spending target" will "eventually mobilise more climate and environmental funding compared to the 2021-2027 MFF". Indeed, "a €177 bn annual investment gap remains to deliver environmental priorities and reach net zero by 2050", reminds the Commission.

How the "Do no significant harm" principle will be assessed in the next MFF

A "Do no significant harm" principle will be applied to the whole MFF for 2028-2034, except for defence and security. News Tank asked on what criteria and under which exceptions the principle will or will not be applied.

• The Commission proposed to issue a guidance document to facilitate the application of the DNSH principle in the next MFF. "That guidance shall set out general principles and criteria and, where necessary, specific criteria at the level of relevant policy areas.

It will distinguish, in particular, between policy areas or activities that are always deemed to be in line with the DNSH principle, and those that are considered to do significant harm to one or several environmental objectives and can therefore not be financed from the EU budget.

The guidance will also identify cases where the application of the DNSH principle may not be feasible or appropriate, such as crisis situations or other reasons of overriding public interest."

• As News Tank asked why the principle will not be applied to defence and security, the Commission answered that "applying the DNSH principle to defence and security activities is not deemed feasible or appropriate to safeguard the Union's defence and security interests".

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