Module 7.2: Reading
7.2. European initiatives and priorities for the climate and the environment
7.2.1. Introduction
Achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal involves the thorough and careful review of all legislation in many areas. Let's see which priorities the European Commission has set, how they are structured and which initiatives accompany them.
7.2.2. European priorities for the climate and the environment
As we have already mentioned in the previous chapter, the 17 ODS are a primary part of the EU's government guidelines and have been integrated into the 6 priorities of the European Commission:
- European Green Pact
- An economy that works for the people
- A Europe prepared for the digital age
- The European lifestyle
- A strong Europe in the world
- A Democratic Europe
These priorities include 8 different aspects with which the European Commission proposes to achieve these objectives:
- Applying profoundly transformative policies
- Commitment of civil society and other interested parties
- Monitoring and reporting
- The EU's commitment to the world
- European Semester for the coordination and monitoring of economic and social policies.
- Multiannual financial framework and creation of the NextGenerationEU funds
- Better regulation
- Coherence of policies for sustainable development
7.2.3. The European Climate Pact
The European Pact for Climate is part of the European Green Deal and aims to encourage its citizens to participate actively in building a more sustainable Europe.
The priorities of the European Climate Pact are:
- Green Spaces
- Ecological Transport
- Education and awareness
- Ecological buildings
- Ecological competence
Activity: Count us in. Go to the campaign site Take a Step and choose one of the steps suggested. Answer the questions proposed and, at the end of the questionnaire, assume the commitment to make one gesture for the climate. Your commitment will be registered along with thousands of European citizens.
7.2.3. Citizen Participation
The fight for climate change can only be achieved if we all get involved. That's why the European Climate Pact encourages everyone to take action to build a more sustainable Europe, whether we're just starting our climate action journey or we're already working to make a difference in the world.
From November 2021 to March 2022, a total of 461 Peer Parliaments were organized in 26 EU member states. In small groups of 5 to 10 people, they brainstormed and provided solutions for some of Europe's most important climate and environmental issues.
The Peer Parliaments hosts then shared their findings with the European Commission, ensuring that EU policy-makers heard the voice of citizens and that all their ideas were fed into the Conference on the Future of Europe, an opportunity for European citizens to debate Europe's challenges and priorities. which concluded on May 9, 2022.
In that link you can access the results of the Peer Parliaments initiative.
Another space for citizen participation is the platform created by the European Commission where citizens can propose new laws. When one of the proposals reaches one million signatures, the Commission decides to adopt the relevant measures to debate it in Parliament.
In the following web link, we can see the different proposals of the citizens, which can be debated and finally see which have been approved. https://europa.eu/citizens-initiative/find-initiative/eci-lifecycle-statistics_es
Therefore, this proposal is essential for citizens' participation. In addition, information is provided on how to collect signatures, how to draft an initiative, find partners, raise funds, etc.
Activity: Visit the portal where the citizen initiatives that are collecting signatures are shown: Is there any initiative related to the environment? Which of these initiatives would you like to support? Do you dare?
Sources and resources: