CDU politician Dennis Radtke welcomes adoption of EU Social Climate Fund
Brussels/Düsseldorf. For the North Rhine-Westphalian CDU MEP Dennis Radtke, the final adoption of the report on the EU Social Climate Fund by the European Parliament is a strong signal in the current geopolitical crisis: “The Social Climate Fund is a first milestone towards socially responsible climate action”, the EPP Coordinator for Employment and Social Affairs commented today’s voting result.
“The goal of climate neutrality by 2050 poses enormous challenges for all of us, especially in the context of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Rising energy prices hit low-income households particularly hard.”
The fund is intended to compensate for the social impact resulting from the partial inclusion of the building and transport sectors in emissions trading. For this purpose, at least 32.78 billion Euros will be available until 2027. From 2028, the size will be determined as part of the negotiations on the MFF, with the possibility of reaching a total volume of 144.4 billion Euros. The development of EU-wide definitions of “energy poverty” and “mobility poverty” will also ensure that the support reaches the beneficiaries in the Member States in a targeted manner.
Two weeks ago, the Strasbourg Parliament had already adopted all substantive points of the report by EPP rapporteurs David Casa and Esther de Lange with a large majority. However, the final vote was postponed because of the close connection to the report on European Emissions Trading, whose adoption was undermined by a voting pact of parts of the social democrats, the left and extreme right groups. Radtke praised all Christian Democratic politicians involved: “It is now more than obvious that only the European People’s Party stands for a socially just transition in Europe. While the Social Democrats are moving further and further away from the reality of people’s lives and really leave no stone unturned in actively torpedoing the future of the European steel and chemical industry, we are fighting to ensure that no one is left behind, also when it comes to climate action.”
