healthier, happier and richer

The Centre for European Reform has now published a short paper by John Peet, who is European editor of the Economist, and me on the EU Budget (see Centre for European Reform: The European Union budget 2014-20: More boldness needed). We argue that the European Commission should be more ambitious than it was in its proposals, which will basically lead to more of the same.

Our paper is not all about climate policy, of course. Climate change is not the only issue which Europe is facing. However, some of it is relevant to the climate. In this respect, we argue that the EU should require all countries and regions to spend a certain proportion of their EU grants on energy efficiency, since this is an excellent way to boost economies and help residents. We also argue that more of the proposed Connecting Europe budget line should go on energy infrastructure – necessary to enable Europe to harness more renewable energy – and less on transport, which too often means new motorways.