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Eastern EU countries veering away from 2030 climate goals, report says

(EurActiv, 30 Jun 2023) Central and Eastern European countries display low ambitions with their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), raising concerns about the region’s ability to meet EU climate goals, campaigners warn.

NECPs are an essential building block in the EU’s climate policy architecture because they lay out the specifics of how each country plans to achieve the collective goals agreed upon at a European level.

Only three EU countries – Spain, Croatia and Slovenia – have met the EU’s annual 30 June deadline to submit their updated national energy and climate plans, campaigners say.

But it is already clear that Central and Eastern European member states are falling short of meeting EU expectations, according to a new report by CEE Bankwatch Network, a green umbrella group. 

NECP progress reports “have not always been taken seriously in some countries, such as Slovakia, where data are missing,” the report says. And with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, many have fallen back into old habits by supporting gas and coal consumption instead of renewables.

“This trend is particularly evident in central and eastern European countries, where measures have been taken to slow down the transition away from fossil fuels, backtrack on previous commitments, or even de facto recarbonise the economy,” the report says.

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EurActiv, 30 Jun 2023: Eastern EU countries veering away from 2030 climate goals, report says