Publications on EU funds

It is now widely acknowledged that there is enormous potential to reap environmental, social and economic dividends through improving the energy efficiency of Europe's 160 million buildings. And yet actual investments in energy efficiency measures remain very small in comparison to this potential. To achieve the EU objective of a 20 percent improvement in energy efficiency by 2020 (from 1990 levels), the European Investment Bank estimates that EUR 85 billion per year is needed, with EUR 60 billion per year required for buildings alone. The forthcoming EU budget for 2014-20, currently being negotiated, has a vital role to play here, for both Europe's more developed and less developed countries.

A recently published analysis from Bankwatch that examines existing EU funding support for airports in Poland concludes that such EU support for airport infrastructure in Poland and other EU countries has to be phased out in the next EU budget period 2014-2020.

To reach the EU agreed climate and energy targets by 2020, the European Commission states that at least 20% of the future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020 should support climate action. The Coalition for a Sustainable EU budget strongly supports this initiative and ask to increase it to 25% of the next MFF. In order to have a proper legal basis, this commitment should be included in the Negotiating Box and in the Inter-Institutional Agreement.