Where do EU funds go?
Member States are currently deciding where to invest their EU funds.
Are they making the investment decisions needed to fight dangerous climate change and reverse nature destruction?
We looked into measures.
Europeans awarded the good measures that should be replicated, the bad measures that miss the opportunity for a transformational change and the ugly measures that should definitely be scrapped from Member States’ spending plans.
The Good
Measures and projects that contribute to the fight against climate change and create more prosperous communities.
Kicking off the Just Transition
Poland‘s Eastern Wielkopolska region has an ambitious plan to get rid of coalby 2030 and guarantee a Just Transition to its citizens.
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The Italian draft recovery plan envisages thousands of kilometers of new cycling tracks which would increase the quality of urban life and contribute to the just transition. Read more
In Estonia, the Ida-Virumaa Just Transition Plan would phase out shale oil and replace it with greener, more efficient heating solutions.
Read more
Other measures in this category:
Spanish rural areas can benefit from Recovery money to ensure a sustainable and just ecological transition.
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Riding the renovation wave
In Belgium‘s Wallonia region, almost 30% of Recovery cash would be used for advanced renovation of social housing and public buildings. Read more
In Spain, Recovery money is planned for funding the sustainable transformation of cities and municipalities. Read more
In Poland, Recovery funds would be used to improve energy efficiency in buildings, often still heated with coal. Read more
Supporting energy communities
Bulgaria would use some Recovery money (could be more!) for renewables and energy efficiency measures in private buildings. Read more
In Hungary, EU regional funds would support decentralised, community-owned renewable energy projects. Read more
In Czechia, a decentralised, citizens-based initiative developing small-scale renewables has applied for funding from the Modernization Fund. Read more
Other measures in this category:
The Polish Recovery plan would finance citizens-led renewable energy communities and cooperatives. Read more
The Bad
Measures and projects that miss out the transformation to a greener and more inclusive future.
Blind eye on energy efficiency in buildings and homes
Bulgaria plans to modernize its buildings stock with recovery funds, but the proposed renovation measures go without necessary reforms and are off targets. Read More
France will spend Recovery money to renovate public administrative buildings instead of private homes, while 12 million people in the country are affected by energy poverty. Read More
Germany’s draft Recovery plan fails to underpin energy efficiency targets with sufficient financial means. Read More
Other measures in this category:
The draft Latvian Recovery Plan shows a low level of ambition on energy efficiency, despite the urgent need to renovate the buildings stock. Read More
Despite being potentially efficient and sustainable, district heating has been left out of Latvia’s draft recovery plan. Read More
Hungary leaves more than 95% of homes without any meaningful contribution to boost their energy saving potential. Read More
Planning behind closed doors
The Croatian Recovery plan has been drafted in the secrecy of the Prime Minister’s office, without any involvement of civil society. Read more
The Estonian Recovery plan is being drafted behind closed doors, making it impossible to verify whether it has all the climate action elements required. Read more
In Slovenia, public consultations on the Recovery plan are open only to a handful of selected businesses and local authorities. Read more
Other measures in this category:
The German draft Recovery plan is weak on governance and fails to promote transformational changes towards a green economy. Read more
Czechia is side-lining civil society from the planning of its Just Transition, In blatant breach of the partnership principle. Read more
The German draft Recovery plan fails on civil society participation, additionality and structural reforms. Read more
False turns in transport
Poland plans to use regional and Recovery funds for roads and air transport, thereby substantially increasing its GHG emissions. Read more
No cycling infrastructure is planned in the Polish Recovery plan, despite citizens, regions and Parliament committee’s demand to create a comprehensive national cycling network. Read more
The French Recovery plan is a missed opportunity for a much-needed regeneration of national railways. Read more
Other measures in this category:
Slovenia will spend its recovery cash on building more roads, while it would actually need more trains and public transport. Read more
Portugal will use Recovery money to expand road infrastructure, while neglecting greener transport modes such as railways. Read more
Neither clean nor just transition
Hungary might allocate a big share of its Just Transition and Modernization funding to the partial transformation of energy-intensive and polluting industries. Read more
In Estonia, the decarbonization of big industries risks coming at the expense of the needs of local communities involved in the Just Transition. Read more
With renewables development lagging behind, France will invest €2 billion of its Recovery money on hydrogen, raising concerns on how it will be produced. Read more
Other measures in this category:
The Slovakian Recovery plan allocates €3 billion for green investments, but still falls short on energy efficiency, transport and public participation. Read more
Germany’s draft Recovery Plan doesn’t allocate enough money to restore and protect nature, despite ecosystems being in steep decline. Read more
Wind never blows, sun never shines
The Italian recovery could support the production of hydrogen from fossil gasand its use in rail traffic, leaving renewable solutions behind. Read more
France will not use Recovery money to support wind and solar, despite not being in line with its 2020 renewables target. Read more
Latvia will not invest any cohesion and Recovery money into its largely underdeveloped wind energy sector, despite having a huge untapped potential. Read more
Other measures in this category:
In Spain, a lot of Recovery money is planned to be spent on green hydrogen, which remains immature and much more expensive than solar or wind energy. Read more
The Ugly
Measures and projects that are devastating nature and accelerating the climate crisis.
Fossil fueled transport
Germany’s recovery plan prefers subsidising fossil mobility rather than emission-free solutions, despite transport emissions being on the rise. Read more
In Belgium, Flanders region plans to spend Recovery money on hybrid buses, which will lock public transport into fossil fuels for many years. Read more
Other measures in this category:
After having recently privatised aviation, Slovenia decided to bail out those companies and start up new ones with national and Recovery funds. Read more
Dedicated to destroy nature
Bulgaria plans to use EU cohesion funds to finance a motorway passing through the Kresna Gorge, an area with the richest biodiversity in the country. Read more
Portugal is planning to use EU Recovery money for a dam that is not needed and carries severe environmental and social risks. Read more
In Bulgaria, cohesion funding might finance the construction of a roadcutting through a natural park, threatening the habitat of protected species. Read more
Other measures in this category:
In Spain, the agri-food industry might receive lots of Recovery cash for a project doing very little to make industrial agriculture more sustainable. Read more
Burning the climate
EU funding for a waste incinerationplant condemns Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, to burn precious resources for the next 3 decades. Read more
Romania plans on using EU regional funds for the expansion of the gas distribution system, which is completely at odds with the energy transition. Read more
Italy’s Recovery plan might allocate €10 billion of EU funding to tax credits that favor fossil gas heating systems in buildings. Read more
Poland plans to use EU money to fund a massive expansion of fossil gas use, which will lock the country into a fossil dependency for decades. Read more
Other measures in this category:
In Bulgaria, Recovery money would be used for a coal-to-gas switch, which risks increasing fossil gas dependency for households. Read more
Poland plans to use Recovery and Just Transition funding to build polluting and expensive waste incinerators that are not needed. Read more
Into the polluters’ pockets
The French government will give a blank check worth €2.5 billion to the most polluting companies in France. Read more
In Czechia, big polluters will receive a major share of the Modernisation Fund, thereby delaying the transformation towards a more decentralised and democratised energy system. Read more
In Czechia, a network of political-industrial elites might derail Just Transition funding to the benefit of big polluting industries. Read more