Charles Michel, the European Council President, yesterday said he believed the EU should make the world's worst polluters pay for access to its single market, and in doing so create a permanent new revenue stream to help pay for the EUR1.8tn budget-and-recovery plan agreed in July.
In the past there has always been resistance to such revenue streams known as ‘own resources’ from EU governments, as individual countries preferred to keep direct control over all their tax authority and in turn channel funds through national coffers. However, that changed when the new seven-year EU budget blueprint was put in place, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework. EU leaders agreed to consider proposals that would jointly help repaying the huge amount of joint debt the bloc has taken on to help not only fight the current pandemic but also its recovery program.
In his speech Michel said that he believes the establishment of new resources is a priority and not only for its monetary value but also for the environment. He said that the new resources will be an ‘irreversible step in strengthening the Union's capacities’ adding that an ‘environmental taxation will make a pivotal contribution to our carbon-neutrality goal for 2050’. He went on to say ‘“It’s much more than that. We will not accept that environmentally substandard goods unfairly compete with European products, while at the same time damaging the planet. And we are ready to establish a carbon border adjustment mechanism in line with an improved Emission Trade System to protect our level playing field. If foreign companies want access to our market, we expect them to be on the same footing as our European companies’.
Michel also touched on transparency and how the money would be spent, something the EU has not been great at over the years. He warned that they had to prove that the money is properly accounted for and well-spent. ‘COVID-19 has shown the pivotal role of the state in protecting livelihoods and businesses’ he said, adding ‘But we must remain vigilant. There is no magic money. As we implement our recovery plan, every euro must be used thoughtfully and efficiently’.
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