Kristin Archick, Jane A. Leggett and Kezee Procita collaborated to produce this CRS InFocus report (updated 9 November): 'EU Climate Action and U.S.-EU Relations'.
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The European Union: A Key Actor
The European Union (EU) has played a leading role on international climate action for decades. It worked closely with the United States to negotiate the 2015 Paris Agreement (PA) to combat greenhouse gas (GHG)-induced climate change. Since 2019, the EU has raised its domestic climate ambitions further and, in doing so, has sought to be a global standard-setter. The EU welcomed President Biden’s decision to rejoin the PA (reversing the U.S. withdrawal carried out by the former Trump Administration). Both EU and Biden Administration officials repeatedly assert the importance of U.S.-EU cooperation in tackling climate challenges. The 117th Congress may compare EU climate action policies with Biden Administration plans and may assess prospects for and challenges to U.S.-EU cooperation on climate change mitigation efforts in the years ahead. (Table 1 compares selected U.S. and EU GHG emissions indicators.)
EU Climate Policies
The 27-member EU designates environmental policy—including climate action—as an area of shared competency in which both the EU and its member states may adopt legally binding acts. All EU members must abide by agreed EU laws and regulations on climate action, and national laws or policies must not conflict with or undercut common EU measures. Headline EU initiatives include The European Green Deal. A multipronged approach, launched in December 2019 by the European Commission (the EU’s executive), to address climate change and other environmental challenges, while also promoting resource-efficient economic growth and innovation. A just economic transition for all segments of European society is integral to the initiative.
More Ambitious Climate Goals. In 2020, the EU committed to reducing GHG emissions by at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030, both in the EU context and in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the PA. The EU also has committed to a climate-neutral economy (no net GHG emissions) by 2050.
Fit for 55. Unveiled in July 2021, this initial package of 16 legislative proposals and policies aims to meet the EU’s 55% emissions reduction goal and to implement measures linked to the European Green Deal.
Specific legislation to help implement the European Green Deal and Fit for 55 must be approved by the member states (acting in the Council of the EU) and by the European Parliament to become EU law, a process that can take two years or more. The EU also has pledged to put “green” policies at the center of its Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) economic recovery plans. Of the EU’s €2 trillion (about $2.3 trillion, in current prices) pandemic recovery and 2021-2027 budget package, 30% of total expenditure is to be devoted to climate objectives.
Cutting to the chase (skipping one page out of two):
U.S.-EU Cooperation and Challenges
At a June 2021 summit, the United States and the EU identified the goal to “protect our planet and foster green growth” as one of four priority areas for cooperation. The two partners committed to work together on implementing the PA, sustainable finance, and the development of green technologies, among other issues. In September 2021, the United States and the EU announced the Global Methane Pledge to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. Over 100 countries have joined this initiative, officially launched at the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November 2021.Despite renewed U.S.-EU efforts to cooperate on climate action, some challenges remain. U.S. officials express some concerns about the EU’s proposed CBAM, including possible trade implications. Tensions have arisen over anticipated changes to EU food and agriculture policies that are part of the European Green Deal’s Farm to Fork (F2F) and Biodiversity Strategies. U.S.-EU views also may differ on sustainable finance standards and regulation.
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"People feel that in too many ways the EU is something that is done to them, not something over which they have a say." - William Hague
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