Connie Hedegaard: "What the Commission is proposing is a leaner and greener budget"

On 29 June, the Commission presented its proposal for the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework. The proposal affects all policies: agriculture, cohesion policy, research and development, etc. The Commission's aim is to adapt EU spending to today's and tomorrow's big issues like: growth, education and research, climate, security and EU in the world.

EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard said: ''I believe the EU will be the first in the world to mainstream climate action into its whole budget. What the Commission is proposing is a leaner and greener budget. For example, we will have a greener common agricultural policy (CAP), where 30% of all direct payments to farmers will be conditioned to environmental and climate-friendly agriculture. And overall, the climate-related share of the EU budget will be raised significantly to at least 20% of the whole budget. This significant increase reflects what the transition to a low carbon economy is all about: investing now for green growth tomorrow".

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