General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2027 - all sections

The Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following into its motion for a resolution:

1.Underlines that the 2027 budget is the last annual budget of the 2021-2027 MFF and must prioritise and make the best possible and transparent use of resources to deliver the Union’s climate, environmental, biodiversity, zero pollution and sustainable food system objectives, whilst safeguarding competitiveness and innovation in the Union;

2.Underlines that the draft budget 2027 should provide the necessary funding for the agreed priorities of the Union on climate and environmental objectives and the just twin transition, thereby encouraging economic growth, Union’s competitiveness, job creation, energy transition, while taking into account national and regional differences, and the environmental, economic and social development and stability in the Union;

3.Calls for these resources to prioritise climate action, mitigation, risk-preparedness and adaptation, nature restoration and biodiversity protection and pollution prevention and reduction, circularity, water quality and resilience, soil health and food safety and sustainability; emphasises the importance of ensuring focused and cost-effective actions that maximise impact to contribute to Union’s prosperity and resilience;

4.Recalls the Union’s international agreements and commitments and its climate and environmental legal framework and stresses that the EU budget must reflect these commitments by supporting the acceleration of the just green transition, climate adaptation and mitigation, renewable energy, energy efficiency, circular economy, nature restoration and biodiversity protection, pollution prevention and reduction, and of the phase-out of fossil fuels;

5.Stresses that the commitment to dedicate at least 30% of the MFF to climate action must be honoured and transparently tracked; regrets that biodiversity expenditure remains below the 10% ambition for 2027 and calls on the Commission and Member States to redirect commitments towards biodiversity-relevant measures to achieve this objective; insists that transparency and efficiency in the use of funds is needed to maximise impact, whilst reducing unnecessary administrative burden for beneficiaries;

6.Recalls that the European Green Deal serves to strengthen the Union’s competitiveness and to advance the transition to a sustainable and climate-neutral economy, through key initiatives such as the Clean Industrial Deal; underlines the importance of budgetary consistency to achieve Union climate goals and safeguarding long-term competitiveness, particularly through support for clean innovation and industrial decarbonisation, which includes to phase out of fossile fuel and other environmentally harmful subsidies according to the 8th Environment Action Programme;

7.Notes that the LIFE programme delivers environmental outcomes on the ground and supports local and regional authorities, civil society organisations and other stakeholders, and taking into account the climate and biodiversity urgencies, calls for additional resources for LIFE, and in particular for the biodiversity strand, whilst stressing the importance of continued communication, visibility and transparency of Union funded projects; calls, in this context, for sustained funding for cross-border biodiversity protection projects, especially in regions which are biologically highly valuable but exposed to the pressures of climate change and human activities;

8.Stresses the need to reinforce commitments for moving towards a toxic-free environment, including a swift phase-out of substances of very high concern, including the phase-out of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), linked to harmful effects on human health and the environment, based on scientific evidence, allowing their use where there are no safe alternatives and commitments for waste prevention, reuse, repair and recycling, and for water-resilience measures, including efficiency, leakage reduction, reuse and nature-based solutions as well as the strengthening, proper application and harmonisation of the application of the polluter pays principle; recalls in this regard the importance of applying extended producer responsibility, as appropriate;

9.Stresses the need to strengthen efforts to prevent and reduce water pollution affecting both surface waters, including rivers, and groundwater resources, and calls for adequate investment to ensure the long-term availability of clean, safe and affordable water for all, in line with the objectives of the EU Water Resilience Strategy and the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, while improving water quality monitoring, pollution control, ecosystem protection and the sustainable management of water resources; calls for increased support to Member States to finance water efficiency, minimise leaking, maximise collection and provide clean water for the Union’s needs, with particular focus to the different needs of the Member States and particularly those that face acute water scarcity;

10.Calls for stronger and targeted support for the just transition efforts of the most affected regions, workers and households through the Just Transition Fund, the Social Climate Fund and climate-relevant cohesion investments, so that no region or community is left behind; in the transition to a sustainable and climate-neutral economy, whilst the competitiveness of the Union economy is safeguarded;

11.Stresses the importance of reinforcing the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and rescEU, to better address the increasing impacts of climate change given the growing frequency and severity of climate disasters and events such as floods, heatwaves, droughts and wildfires particularly for the hard-hit regions across Europe; emphasizes the need to improve disaster prevention and preparedness, prioritising sustainable and long term solutions, whilst boosting rapid response capabilities, coordination and cross-border preparedness; highlights that more investment is needed for prevention and early detection of disasters, highlighting how this protects lives and is more efficient than responding to crises;

12.Recognises the crucial role of the Union agencies under the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety’s remit, namely the European Environment Agency (EEA), European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in shaping science-based Union policy making; Calls for adequate support and human resources for Commission services and Union agencies in climate, environment and biodiversity, so that adopted legislation on climate, environment, biodiversity, chemicals and food safety can be implemented and can be supported by independent scientific advice, and calls notably for reinforcing the EFSA to absorb the existing backlog of renewals and the EEA, not least to further support the work on climate adaptation and resilience in the face of more frequent extreme weather events; stresses the need for Union agencies, in addition to scientific expertise, to further strengthen their capacities for public communication and the fight against disinformation in the field of climate change, health and food safety, with the aim of increasing citizens’ trust and society’s resilience to misinformation;

13.Calls for swift implementation of pilot projects and preparatory actions related to climate, environmental and biodiversity objectives, as well as the continuation of already existing, impactful pilot projects and preparatory actions where a renewal of the project or the action was requested.

14.Emphasises the need to further develop and apply environmental and health impact assessment tools within the Union budget, thereby ensuring that 2027 expenditure contributes to sustainability, pollution prevention, and climate resilience; calls for reinforced tracking and transparency mechanisms to measure the ecological effectiveness of Union funding;