EU Budget and Climate Change. Discussion Event with WIFO Economist Margit Schratzenstaller in Brussels

Margit Schratzenstaller

17.09.2019

EU Budget and Climate Change

Discussion Event with WIFO Economist Margit Schratzenstaller in Brussels

The possible contribution of the EU budget to combating climate change, which is currently being negotiated for the period 2021 to 2027, was the subject of a discussion event organised by the Representation of the Austrian Chamber of Labour in Brussels on 9 September 2019. WIFO economist Margit Schratzenstaller provided the impetus for the discussion with her keynote speech.

She pointed out the many possible climate policy approaches for EU spending, including regional and cohesion policy, agricultural policy, research and infrastructure.

The revenue side, which currently does not contribute at all to overcoming the major challenges at EU level, could also be put at the service of climate and environmental policy objectives: by replacing part of the national contributions of the member states to the financing of the EU budget with "green" own resources – in addition to the options proposed by the European Commission (a plastic tax and a share of 20 percent of the revenues from the auctioning of emission certificates within the framework of the EU emissions trading system) – suitable candidates would be, for example, a border adjustment system for the EU emissions trading system, taxes on air traffic or a surcharge on the mineral oil tax. The panel discussion was attended by Frank Ey from the Vienna Chamber of Labour, Bernhard Windisch from the European Commission, Günther Sidl from the European Parliament and Samuel Kenny from the environmental NGO Transport & Environment.

Event AK Europa: Europe climate-neutral by 2050 – What contribution can the EU budget make in the fight against climate change?

FairTax Working Paper, No. 25