Today it was announced that MEPs have voted to endorse the ambitious Climate Law proposed by European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, a key component of his European Green Deal plan.
PES President Sergei Stanishev said:
“The EU began as a coal and steel union, but today we set our sights on a climate neutral union: an EU that safeguards the future for this and the next generation.
“Thanks to Frans Timmermans we have an ambitious Climate Law proposal which has been pushed forward in parliament by S&D Rapporteur Jytte Guteland and the S&D Group, who held off efforts to water-down the proposal. This is a historic piece of legislation and a milestone for the just transition socialists and democrats are fighting for. It also strengthens the EU’s climate ambition in light of its global commitments to limit global temperature increases to 1.5°C.
“Action for the climate has been central to the PES agenda for many years and we have delivered on it for the benefit of all with this new Climate Law. But this journey is not over, we must keep progressing the European Green Deal as the foundation for the fairer and more sustainable Europe we want.”
The PES backed the new Climate Law when it was unveiled in March and welcomed the Commission’s raised ambition for 2030, which was announced by Executive Vice-President Timmermans in September.
The European Green Deal and the Just Transition are key policies of the socialist and democratic political family and we commend the work of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans on the European Green Deal and Cohesion and Reforms Commissioner Elisa Ferreira, who is overseeing the implementation of the Just Transition Fund.
