Fit for 55% and climate neutrality: The future of Europe in the World
Opening keynote - GOVTRAN Final Event Series
Keynote by Mr. Diederik Samsom, Head of Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans – European Green Deal, and Commissioner for Climate Action Policy
Wednesday 15 September 11.30-12.30
Zoom link to register
The European Commission released its legislative proposals for implementing the EU’s enhanced greenhouse gas emission reduction target of at least 55% by 2030 in July 2021 – also known as the “Fit for 55 package”. These will amend and complement the major cornerstones of the EU’s existing climate and energy legislation, including the emissions trading system, emission standards for cars and vans, land use/forestry, renewable energy and energy efficiency. This legislative package will complement the European Climate Law adopted in spring 2021 and also provide the baseline for the subsequent consideration of the EU’s further emission and policy trajectory towards achieving climate neutrality by 2050 (and negative emissions thereafter).
This keynote will reflect on the broader repercussions of the legislative package and the EU’s move to climate neutrality in times that are characterised by increasing turbulence in Europe and beyond. What are the implications of the Fit for 55 package for existing socio-political divisions across Europe and for the broader legitimacy challenges that the EU is facing? What are the possible/likely effects on the EU’s broader role in the world in the face of continuing geopolitical shifts and rising great-power competition? What features of the Fit for 55 package are key so that EU climate governance can best help address these broader internal and external challenges?
Speaker
Diederik Samsom, Head of Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans – European Green Deal, and Commissioner for Climate Action Policy, European Commission
Discussant
Claire Dupont, Assistant Professor of European and International Governance, Ghent University
Moderator
Sebastian Oberthür, Director of the Centre for Environment, Economy and Energy, Brussels School of Governance – Vrije Universiteit Brussel & Professor of Environmental Policy and Law at the Centre for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law at the University of Eastern Finland
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Full programme pdf
