EU budget: green jobs to be found amidst disappointing deal

July 3, 2013

Brussels, July 3, 2013 – Following today’s approval by the European Parliament of Europe’s €960 billion budget for 2014-2020, Bankwatch and Friends of the Earth Europe are calling on individual member states to make the most of a disappointing deal by respecting green spending commitments – thereby boosting green jobs and truly sustainable investments.

Commenting after the vote, Markus Trilling, EU Funds coordinator for Bankwatch and Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “We’ve got agreement on the broad outline, it’s disappointing, but it’s time to draw a line under the discussions and get to work salvaging some green shoots from the battle-scarred budget. With quality at the heart of their spending plans, member states can still ensure environmental and economic benefits and help bring Europe out of crisis.”

A well-spent budget has the potential to create green jobs and bring Europe out of its economic and environmental crises, according to the organisations [1]. For example, a €1 billion investment could create 29,000 jobs if invested in the Natura 2000 nature protection scheme, or approximately 52,700 jobs in the renewables sector or 25,900 jobs in the energy savings sector.

Markus Trilling continued: “The millions of young unemployed across Europe may initially welcome the new emphasis on fighting unemployment, with a frontloaded €6 billion now being made available, but it’s unlikely to reach deep enough or wide enough. Committing to quality green spending across the entire budget, via the 20 percent climate mainstreaming agreed in February, would bring sustainable, long-term job creation in sectors such as renewable energy and energy savings.”

“In contrast, subsidies for carbon-intensive transport and energy infrastructure must be ruled-out from regional investment plans – they promote fossil fuel use and lock European economies into carbon dependency.”

More than a third (€362.7 billion) of the EU budget 2014-2020 is committed to agriculture as part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The majority of this will support industrial farming, benefitting multinationals and large-scale farms, while devastating biodiversity and small farmers, according to Friends of the Earth Europe [2].

Stanka Becheva, food and agriculture campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said: "The majority of CAP subsidies will be used to prop up a failing system that benefits a few multinationals and industrial-scale farms. This will be a disaster for the environment, small farmers and developing countries. But, if at the national and regional levels the CAP supports the growing movement for quality, sustainable food, we could see benefits for local communities and the environment.”