The EU’s debate on a 90% climate target for 2040 made some progress on Monday (25 March), with 10 countries in favour, three against, and 13 asking for additional concessions at a meeting of environment ministers in Brussels.

The EU has two carbon reduction targets set in law: a 55% cut by 2030, followed by net-zero in 2050. An equivalent target for 2040 is currently being discussed in Brussels. In February, the Commission proposed a 90% reduction target.

On Monday, EU countries took to the stage to declare their position: countries in favour of the 90% target outnumber those opposed, but the majority of countries declared themselves as ‘undecided’ for now.

“I sense significant support,” Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said after the EU’s most ambitious countries voiced their support for his proposal. Those include France, Finland, Denmark, and Spain. 

Germany and the Netherlands voiced only provisional support – Berlin’s coalition government has yet to agree internally while the Netherlands’ caretaker minister Rob Jetten asserted that the country’s newly elected parliament was “in favour” of 90%.

In all, 10 countries came out in support of the Commission proposal. 

Three voiced clear opposition: Czechia called it “too ambitious”; Greece worried about people “wanting a better life now” and Poland asked for “more analysis”. Warsaw’s de-facto U-turn came as a surprise after a member of the diverse governing coalition promised a new tack from Warsaw in January. 

However, half of countries declined to take a hard position, citing specificities ranging from the concerns of island nations to rural countries reliant on cars.

Many of these countries joined the EU in 2004 or later and stressed their different economic starting points. Latvia and other EU countries highlighted the need for “flexibility” to accommodate national specificities. Every “EU country has its own development model”, said Romania’s Mircea Fechet, minister of environment.

“We do not have sufficient resources at our disposal to achieve climate objectives,” explained Croatia’s Ivo Milatic, state secretary of environment, adding that “we need to find a way to make it a just transition that leaves nobody behind.”

‘Just transition’ denotes an approach that combines climate action with social policies to protect vulnerable citizens who could otherwise be adversely impacted by the transition. In an EU context, this has often been achieved via fiscal transfers.

Slovenia’s Environment Minister Bojan Kumer called for “greater geographical balance” in the disbursement of EU funds from the modernisation and innovation funds – two funds worth billions, funded by carbon emission trading. 

The second major concern for EU countries remains industrial competitiveness – the issue everyone can agree on, from Budapest to Berlin.

“Overburdening” industry with climate policies risks “backfiring,” warned Hungary’s Anikó Raisz, the environment minister. 

“Strengthening the competitiveness of our industry is crucial for the coming years,” said Germany’s Sven Giegold, state secretary of economy and climate.

Recognition for nuclear

For the alliance of 12 pro-nuclear countries led by France and Czechia, nuclear is a key element of the energy mix beyond 2030.

Czechia focused on hydrogen produced with nuclear power, which is currently not classified as ‘renewable’ under the bloc’s renewable energy directive (RED) rules.

“I am pleading for low-carbon hydrogen” so Europe could get started on the “hydrogen economy,” said Petr Hladik, the Czech minister of environment, calling for a change to RED rules.

[Edited by Donagh Cagney/Zoran Radosavljevic]

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