MEPs have a number of different ways to advance the drawing up of policies. One of the most commonly used is a question for the Commission, since it is the European Commission that has to take the initiative in putting forward proposals for directives.
MEPs Lídia Pereira, Marek Paweł Balt, Fredrick Federley, Simona Baldassarre, Pär Holmgren, Alexandr Vondra, and Petros Kokkalis on behalf of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) questioned the Commission the 25/11/2020 on the EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change. Here are the questions:
“The Commission is due to present a new Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change in early 2021. Adaptation measures are crucial to prepare for a changing climate by building resilient societies that are able to minimise its adverse impacts. The upcoming Strategy is an opportunity for the Commission to show the EU’s leadership on adaptation, and ensure Member States are on track to meet the adaptation goal of the Paris Agreement.
In this context, we would welcome answers to the following questions:
1. What lessons has the Commission learned from the current EU Adaptation Strategy, and how will these be reflected in the planned new Strategy? In particular, as the current Strategy has no legally binding targets and milestones, what goals and targets are envisaged in the new Strategy, and how does the Commission plan to strengthen its governance?
2. How does the Commission intend to ensure that the Strategy responds to the latest scientific evidence on possible future impacts of climate change, that it is cross-sectoral and applied within all relevant EU policies, and that it will benefit of adequate funding? How will desertification and land degradation be addressed?
3. How does the Commission intend to ensure that Member States put in place adequate adaptation strategies and monitor their implementation? How will the differences between Member States be taken into account? How will more vulnerable regions, populations and ecosystems be addressed? How will the adaptation challenges for cities be addressed?”
The oral answers are requested by 26/02/2021.
So, why do we print the questions now without the answers?
Because the questions are raised to draw the attention of the EC officers in charge of the climate change strategy. They have to take account of them when they draw up the text.
In other words … ‘prevention is better than cure‘ …
Gruppo Suolo Europa 