EU Budget

What the EEB wants

The Financial Perspectives (2014-2020) need to be developed as an instrument for the implementation of a Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS).

This must include a roadmap for the next decade for all sectors of policy the EU has a role in - including agriculture, energy, industry and transport. Such a Strategy should also have a governance component with, as important elements: transparency, accountability, the promotion of active involvement of citizens and effective policies and mechanisms for public authorities to ensure the implementation of laws that underpin sustainable development.

The EEB calls upon the EU Institutions to strongly support this approach so that the development of such a renewed SDS will be given the necessary priority and weight in the coming years. The SDS should incorporate the continuation of the Lisbon process and should have as its starting point the need for the EU to reduce its energy and resource use to sustainable levels. It must also move towards an understanding of the carrying capacity of the planet and the EU’s responsibility not to use more than its fair share in relation to the total global population.

The SDS should also stipulate that financial policies reinforce rather than undermine the Polluter Pays Principle (laid down in the EU Treaties). It must also contribute to the pricing of goods and services being influenced by external (environmental and social) costs. For the EU budget this is particularly important with regards to subsidies. Subsidies that support environmentally problematic activities or complicate the move towards environmentally sound activities must be stopped.

The European Commission should have sufficient means to ensure effective citizens’ involvement in the formulation and implementation of EU policies and to ensure enforcement of EU environmental legislation.

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