Brussels, 19 April 2023
Good afternoon everyone, thank you for coming.
It’s been a very full two days. I’d like to thank the Swedish Presidency, and Romina in particular, for bringing us together, and for putting together such an interesting programme with broad participation.
It was reassuring to find that we share a determination to accelerate the green transition.
Businesses, civil society, financial institutions and authorities – we all need to work together to identify transition pathways and effective supporting policies. This will be the key to reaching our common objectives.
It’s good to have that agreement, because the sustainability transition contributes to the wellbeing of our citizens and the environment, and it also brings huge opportunities for EU competitiveness.
We had interesting discussions on several key files.
We started with an in-depth exchange with businesses and civil society on the enabling conditions and incentives to make the green transition an economic and social story of success.
We confirmed that our green targets fit into the broader geopolitical landscape and the need for European open strategic autonomy. This is what the Green Deal Industrial Plan is about – increasing our sustainable competitiveness.
We must keep working even harder on creating the right regulatory environment for the green transition.
A key enabler is improving access to both public and private sector finance for the green transition.
We estimate that close to 600 billion Euros of additional investments are needed annually from now to 2030 to meet the EU’s green transition objectives.
We have put in place the Recovery and Resilience Facility and other instruments, and the Member States are doing their share as well. But it is essential to mobilise public and private resources in a concerted way.
Furthermore, environmentally harmful subsidies have to be identified and phased out. The right price signals in the marketplace should ensure that green companies are not unfairly penalized for their innovations and investment.
A key topic was nature and biodiversity.
We have many tools to protect our nature, and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 remains our roadmap.
We have effective policies and plans to help businesses transition to a more nature-positive approach, from the
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation to the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and the Taxonomy Regulation as well.
They’re are powerful tools, they will help business play its part, but they won’t be enough. We need to strengthen our nature legislation with an ambitious law on Restoration.
When ecosystems are restored to health, it’s excellent news for business – many EU companies are heavily dependent on ecosystem services. Food and drink, and construction and tourism are the most obvious examples. But there are many more.
Therefore we need an ambitious General Approach on the Nature Restoration Law at the next Environment Council, in June. That’s the path to swift adoption.
Looking back at the session on circularity, it became clear that we need to do more to support businesses retain the extra value that circularity brings.
The main tool we are working on to speed that process is the legislative proposal on Ecodesign, which the Commission proposed a year ago now.
This revision is the centrepiece of the EU Circular Economy Action Plan. It will be crucial to our transition and to our industrial competitiveness.
I reminded Ministers of the urgent need to finalise the legislation under this mandate, so we can open the way to mainstreaming circularity in the EU economy.
The last thing that stood out for me was the discussion about the ongoing negotiations for a new global agreement on plastics. The idea is to bring in binding measures and obligations for each stage of the life-cycle.
This issue goes far beyond the EU, but our industry will feel the effects. So we need a Treaty that levels the global playing field for a circular plastics economy.
We need to advance on this file, not only at the upcoming negotiations but also ahead of them, in our outreach, to deliver the global agreement that our businesses require.
As we are here in the Baltic, I would like to draw your attention to an important event so you can save-the-date for your diaries.
Back in 2020, under very difficult circumstances, we held a one-day conference on the State of the Baltic Sea, with ministers signing a declaration of intent on improving the condition of the sea.
We’ll be holding a follow-up ministerial conference this September, to check up on progress, and put a special focus on efforts to clear up unexploded ordinance, which is still a major issue in this sea.
The conference will be in Lithuania, in Palanga, on 29 September, and I hope to see you all there.
Very happy now to take your questions.
Thank you.