BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2020) The first-ever European climate law, the Green Deal, is said to be at risk of the so-called delegated acts � legally binding acts that allow the European Commission to amend some parts of EU legislation � as they do not involve EU member states in the decision-making processes, according to an opinion of the European Parliament's legal service requested by lawmakers Alexandr Vondra and Anna Zalewska.
In March, the European Commission unveiled a major part of the so-called European Green Deal, the project of the first-ever climate legislation, aimed to create a legal infrastructure for putting the policies of the European Union member states in line with climate neutrality goals.
"The Commission is trying to act beyond its mandate. It is important that the impact on legislation is determined not only by the European Commission but also by Member States and MEPs who have been elected by their citizens," Vondra, a member of the European Parliament from the Czech Republic, said.
In the draft Climate Law, the European Commission has provided for itself the right to decide on the trajectory of achieving climate neutrality after 2030 by means of delegated acts. From the beginning, this raised concerns that the Commission wanted to set targets for the member states through a procedure without involving them.
"The Commission simply cannot sideline the co-legislators from lawmaking. What we need now is a discussion among the Commission, the Parliament, and the Council about the EU's emissions targets and find a realistic way forward that does not undermine the Union's Treaties," Zalewska, a member of the European Parliament from Poland and a shadow rapporteur for the Climate Law, said.
In a letter published last week, the European Environment Committee members, supported by colleagues from the parliament and environmental groups, had urged the presidents of the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament, to treat the fight against COVID-19, together with the adaptation of the Multiannual Financial Framework, as a priority for the EU.
