Proposal from Dutch rapporteurs adopted in Helsinki

8 October 2019

At the proposal of Ms Agnes Mulder (CDA) and Mr Matthijs Sienot (D66), the Inter-parliamentary Conference on Climate Change in Helsinki was concluded with an appeal for the European Commission and the European Council to set the long-term goal that the EU should be climate-neutral by 2050. The European Commission and the European Council were also called upon to increase the current EU's 2030 reduction targets.

Conference

The interparliamentary meeting was held at the initiative of the Finnish parliament, as part of the Finnish EU presidency, which expires on 1 January 2020. Eighty participants from several parliaments attended the conference. On behalf of the House of Representatives the rapporteurs Ms Agnes Mulder (CDA) and Mr Matthijs Sienot (D66) took part, in order to make the case for a climate-neutral EU by 2050 and for increasing the EU 2030 target to 55%.

Appeal

The appeal comes at a timely moment. In early November, the new European Commission will take office. In December, the European Council will make final decisions on the EU's 2050 long-term climate goals. Besides, the UN climate conference is to be held in Santiago de Chile, from 2 to 13 December. The rapporteurs are pleased that their proposal was adopted by the conference, albeit unexpectedly, and thanks to intensive lobbying: "It is inspiring to see that the large majority of EU Member States are in favour of intensifying and speeding-up climate action", Matthijs Sienot commented.