Lynn Boylan, Sinn Féin MEP for Dublin, has raised the alarm over the lack of specific funding for nature and the environment in the EU’s new budget proposals:
“The new budget proposal, announced yesterday, is heavy on militarisation and competitiveness. But the funds for climate action and the environment have disappeared without a trace.
“The new budget will require that 35% of the main funding streams contribute to climate and environmental goals. Depending on how this is assessed, it can be a positive requirement. But it is only part of the picture. If we do not have specific funds focused on nature protection and the Just Transition, it is unlikely that national governments will choose to use other funds to finance these measures.
“The LIFE fund provides crucial support to projects protecting nature, promoting the circular economy, tackling climate change and supporting local renewable energy. In Ireland, LIFE has helped Irish local authorities, charities and social enterprises to protect our bogs, reduce pollution in our lakes, develop clean energy plans, and strengthen the circular economy. But after months of unfounded attacks against LIFE funding in the European Parliament, the fund is now nowhere to be found in the proposals for the new budget.
“Another major loss is the Just Transition Fund. The new budget was the perfect opportunity to expand the Just Transition Fund to support more communities and sectors, ensuring that vulnerable and minority groups can benefit from the transition. It is incomprehensible that this valuable fund has been ditched when the Just Transition is more important than ever.
“Finally, the new budget proposals undermine all the environmental measures being undertaken in the agriculture sector. CAP funding is being mixed in with other funds like Cohesion and Regional Development. It will be completely up to Member States whether they decide to fund environmental measures on farms or not. At a time when we need to be increasing our support to farmers for nature protection, we suddenly have no guarantee that these investments will be made at all.
“The new EU budget only cares about climate action if it directly contributes to the competitiveness of EU business. This short-term thinking completely undermines the work of nature protection that will benefit our health, environment and food security in the long run. If the EU fails to fund environmental programmes in the next budget, it will be making a catastrophic mistake.”
