Author: Céline Charveriat

The political guidelines of the President-elect of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen show a strong emphasis on Europe’s environmental and sustainability needs. IEEP analysed them to see how well they respond to the latest evidence on the state of our continent’s environment.

The analysis uses EEA’s 2018 environmental indicator report and the recommendations from #Think2030, an evidence-based, non-partisan platform of 100 leading policy experts from European think tanks, civil society, the private sector, and local authorities.

Overall, the analysis finds that while the President-elect’s political guidelines provide a much more holistic and ambitious sustainability vision than that of her predecessor, the proposed Green New Deal will need to include a set of science-based quantified targets to 2030, short-term actions, a list of policy reforms as well as credible roadmaps for the transitions required.

Negotiations over Europe’s budget and the Common Agricultural Policy will represent a litmus test for the President-elect’s sustainability agenda.